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273096 


LECTURES 


AFPJCAS  COLOIIZATIOK, 


KIJ^DRED  SUBJECTS. 


By  DAVID  CHRISTY, 

AGHKT   OF   THE   AUBUCAN   COLOXItATIOS   SOCIETT  lOS  OHIO. 


COLUMBUS: 
PUBLISHED  BY  J.  II.   RILEY   &  CO. 

PRIJilED    BT    SCOTT    k    BA8C0M, 

1853. 


UIJIVEKSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
•      '      STACKS 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTICE. 


The  interest  which  these  Lectures  awakened,  at  the  time  of  their 
delivery  and  subsequent  publication,  on  account  of  their  conservative 
tone  and  the  numerous  facts  they  embrace,  has  induced  us  to  issue  them 
in  a  single  volume.  In  this  form  they  will  be  valuable,  not  only  for 
present  reading,  to  those  who  have  not  seen  them,  but  as  a  work  of 
reference  on  the  subjects  which  they  discuss. 

The  request  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  for  the  publication 
of  the  first  two  Lectures,  might  be  considered  as  an  ample  endorsement 
of  their  worth,  and  as  rendering  the  addition  of  any  other  commendatory 
notices  unnecessary.  "We  cannot  refrain,  however,  from  adding  one 
from  the  pen  of  a  distinguished  literary  foreigner,  as  an  evidence  of  the 
impression  they  produced  upon  her  mind.  Wliile  in  Cincinnati,  she 
had  applied  to  the  author,  through  a  friend,  for  copies  of  all  three  of 
the  Lectures,  and  on  reading  them,  sent  him  a  note  from  which  we 
make  the  following  extract : 

Cincinnati,  9th  Dec.  l&TO. 

My  Dear  Sir:  —  Receive  my  heartfelt  thanks  ft>r  your  letter  and  Lectures, 
and  still  more  for  your  views  and  working  in  the  question  about  emancipa- 
tion and  slavery.  They  are  the  first  ones  I  have  met,  which  have  inspired 
me  —  I  mean,  niade  me  feel  inspired,  glowing,  on  the  subject  —  and  opened  to 
me  great  views,  great  possibilities  in  the  cause.  Tliey  have  made  me  truly  de- 
lighted. My  nature  is  too  averse  to  polemics,  to  have  been  able  to  sympathise 
or  be  warmed  by  the  ultra  abolitionists.  But  I  adore  the  ideal,  the  perfect  and 
true  ;  and  only  from  that  central  point  can  all  relative  points  come  out  in  their 
true  light,  true  relations  ;  and  only  from  that  point  is  any  strong  organizing 
power  to  be  exercised. 

I  congratulate  you,  most  sincerely,  on  the  view  of  the  cause  you  have  taken 
np,  and  the  way  you  are  working  it  out,  and  myself,  to  be  instructed  by  your 
writings.  ^  ^  ^  ^^^Tf^*?^ 

Yours,  very  truly, 

Feedrika  Bhemer. 

Mr.  David  Christy. 

The  facts  embraced  in  these  Lectures  are,  mostly,  of  a  class  that 
are  not  of  easy  access  to  common  readers  ;  nor  do  we  know  of  any  other 
Wi'iter  who  has  brought  together  so  many  materials,  in  so  small  a  space, 
on  the  important  and  exciting  questions  he  has  so  carefully  examined. 
It  is  expected,  therefore,  that  their  republication  will  be  acceptable 
to  the  politician,  the  statesman,  the  philanthropist,  the  divine,  and  all 
who  feel  interested  in  the  intellectual  and  moral  elevation  of  the  people 
of  color.  3  The  Publishers 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE    I. 


Introduction 3 

The  Slave  Trade 4 

Emancipation  of  Slaves  in  the  United  States,  11 

Colonization  to  Liberia 15 

Influence  of  Climate  on  Colored  Men 19 

Influence  of  Climate  and  Foreign  Emigration  22 
Influence  of  Slavery  and  Foreign  Emigration  23 
Free  Colored  Emigration  into  Ohio 2i 


Necessity  of  Colonization 27 

Practicability  of  Colonization 31 

Influence  of  Colonization  on  the  Native  Af- 

cans 33 

Influence  of  Colonization  on  Missionary  Ef- 
forts   33 

Relations  of  England  to  Liberia 38 

Concluding  Ilemarlis 54 


LECTU 

Introduction 3 

Social  and  Moral  Condition  of  Africa 6 

Human  Sacrifices T 

Idolatry 11 

Devil  Worship 12 

Witchcraft 13 

Polygamy lo 

Slavery  of  Africa 16 

Tyranny,  Cruelties,  \Vars 18 

Cannibalism 20 

Modifications  of  the  Slave  Trade 21 

Origin  of  Slave  Trade 21 

Slaves  in  a  Barricoon 23 


RE    II. 

Slaves,  the  Middle  Passage 24 

"        the  Slaver  Pons 24 

"        600  drowned 25 

Relations  of  American   Slavery  to  African 

Colonization 27 

Religious  A'iews  of  the  Pilgrims 27 

Condition  of  Slaves  in  the  U.  States 31 

Condition  of  Slaves  in  Jamaica 33 

Cuba 38 

Brazil 39 

Mexico 43 

Elements  of  Colonization 46 

Appendix 51 


LECTURE    III. 


Introduction 3 

Preliminary  Historical  Retrospect 5 

Propositions  Discussed  : 

1.  That  free  labor,  in  tropical  and  semi-tropi- 
cal countries,  is  failing  to  furnish  to  the 
markets  of  the  Tvorld,  in  anything  like 
adequate  quantities,  those  commodities 
upon  which  slave  labor  is  chiefly  employed,    9 

2.  That  the  governments  of  England,  France, 
and  the  United  States,  at  the  present  mo- 
ment, are  compelled,  from  necessity,  to 
consume  slave  labor  products,  to  a  large 
extent,  and  thus  still  continue  to  be  the 
principal  agents  which  aid  in  extending 
and  perpetuating  slavery  and  the  slave 
trade 14 

3.  That  the  legislative  measures  adopted  for 
the  destruction  of  the  slave  trade  and 
slavery,  especially  by  England,  have  tend- 
ed to  increase  and  extend  the  systems  they 
were  designed  to  destroy 30 

i.  That  the  governments  named  cannot  hope 
to  escape  from  the  necessity  of  consuming 
the  products  of  slave  labrr,  except  by  call- 
ing into  active  service,  on  an  extensive 
scale,  the  free  labor  of  countries  not  at 


present  producing  the  commodities  upon 
which  slave  labor  is  employed 40 

5.  That  Africa  is  the  principal  field  where 
free  labor  can  be  made  to  compete,  suc- 
cessfully, with  slave  labor,  in  the  produc- 
tion of  exportable  tropical  commodities. .     45 

6.  That  there  are  moral  forces  and  commer- 
cial considerations  now  in  operation,  which  ' 
will,  necessarily,  impel  Christian  govern- 
ments to  exert  their  influence  for  the  civ- 
ilization of  Africa,  and  the  promotion  of 
the  prosperity  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia, 
as  the  principal  agency  in  this  great  work  ; 
and  that  in  these  facts  lies  our  encourage- 
ment to  persevere  in  our  colonization 
efforts 52 

7.  That  all  these  agencies  and  influences  be- 
ing brought  to  bear  upon  the  civilization 
of  Africa,  from  the  nature  of  its  soil,  cli- 
mate, products,  and  population,  we  are 
forced  to  believe  that  a  mighty  people  will 
ultimately  rise  upon  that  continent,  taking 
rank  with  the  most  powerful  nations  of 
the  earth,  and  vindicate  the  character  of 
the  African  race  before  the  world 63 

Conclusion 70 


Facts  for  Thinking  Men : 
This  is  a  synopsis  of  facts,  chiefly  embrax-ed 
in  the  foregoing  Lectures,  and  designed  to 
demonstrate   the  indispensable  necessity  of 


LECTURE    IV. 

colonization  to  the  extension  of  tropical  free 
labor  cultivation  ;  and  to  show,  that  opposi- 
tion to  African  colonization  is  opposition  to 
the  promotion  and  increase  of  free  labor. 


The  population  of  Africa  is  estimated  at  110,000,000,  in  the  first  two  Lectures. 
It  is  now  usually  estimated  at  150,000,000.  (4) 


A    LECTURE 


A.FRICAN   COLONIZATION: 


INCLUDING   A  BRIEF   OUTLINE 


SLAYE    TRADE,    EMANCIPATION, 


RELATION     OF     THE 


REPUBLIC  OF  LIBERIA  TO  ENGLAND,  &c. 


DELIVERED     IN     THE     HALL    OF     THE     HOUSE     OF     BEPRESENTATIVES 
OF    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 


By    DAVID    CHRISTY, 

AGENT     OF    THE    AMERICAN     COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 


COLUMBUS: 

PUBLISHED    BY    J.   H.   RILEY    &    CO. 

PEINTED     BY     SCOTT     «t     BA8C0M. 

1853. 


^ 


Columbus,  Feb.  2(1,  1849. 

The  undersigned  members  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  desirous  of  promoting  the  discussion  of  the  topics  connected  with  a 
provision  to  be  made  for  the  people  of  color,  and  that  the  greatest  publicity- 
should  be  given  to  the  facts  and  statistics  contained  in  your  interesting 
and  eloquent  Lecture  on  African  Colonization,  delivered  in  the  Hall  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  I9th  ult.,  would  respectfully  request 
a  copy  of  the  same  for  publication. 

To  DAVID  CHRISTY, 

Agent,  American  Colonization  Societt. 


GEO.  HARDESTY, 
SAMUEL   BIGGER, 
CHAUNCEY   N.  OLDS, 
SETH    WOODFORD, 
R.  F.  HOW/^^D, 
MILLER    PENNINGTON 
J.  HAMBLETON, 
JOHN   A.  DODDS, 
TANGY   JIJLIEN, 
WM.  MORROW, 
JACOB   MILLER, 
B.  F.  LEITER, 
LUTHER   MONFORT, 
DAVID   KING, 
J.  H.  DUBBS, 


C.  B.  GODDARD, 

F.  T.  BACKUS, 
A.  J.  BENNET, 
PINKNEY   LEWIS, 
J.  G.  BKESLIN, 
DANIEL   BREWER, 
C.  P.  EDSON, 
ALEX.  LONG, 

G.  E.  PUGH, 

J  AS.  R.  MORRIS, 
S.  L.  NORRIS, 
WM.  DURBIN, 
JAMES   M.  BURT, 
JAS.  H.  SMITH, 


HENRY    ROEDTER, 
J.  R.  EMRIE. 
JOHN   GRAHAM, 
FISHER  A.  BLOCKSOM, 
SAML.   PATTERSON, 
ISAAC   HAINES, 
W.  DENNISON,  JuN., 
F.  COR  WIN. 
HARVEY   VINAL, 
WM.  KENDALL, 
J.  S.  CONKLIN, 
GEO.  D.  HENDRICKS, 
JOSHUA  JUDY, 
SAMUEL   MYERS. 


Oxford,  Butler  County,  Ohio,  Feb.  23d. 
Gentlemen, 

Yours  of  the  2d  inst.  is  received  per  mail.  I  tliank  you 
for  the  expression  of  respect  tendered  to  myself,  and  the  interest  which 
you  manifest  in  the  cause  of  which  I  am  the  advocate.  Your  kind  invita- 
tion to  me  to  allow  the  publication  of  my  Lecture,  will  afford  me  the 
opportunity,  under  the  sanction  of  your  names,  of  spreading  before  the 
public  the  facts  which  it  embraces  in  relation  to  African  Colonization, 
and  may  serve,  it  is  hoped,  to  enlist  many  new  friends  to  the  cause  of  the 
young  Republic  of  Liberia.  I  therefore  cheerfully  comply  with  your 
request. 

I  have  taken  the  liberty,  you  will  perceive,  of  adding  another  section, 
which  time  did  not  allow  me  to  present  in  your  hearing,  and  which  was 
not  fully  matured  on  the  evening  in  which  you  did  me  the  honor  to  allow 
me  the  use  of  the  Hall.  I  cannot  expect  tiiat  every  one  will  agree  with 
me  in  all  my  reasonings  and  conclusions,  but  the  facts  which  arc  presented 
are  of  such  importance  that  they  cannot  fail,  it  is  believed,  to  arrest 
attention,  and  to  lead  to  further  investigation,  and  to  increased  efforts  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  our  colored  population. 

Yours  respectfully, 

DAVID   CHRISTY, 
Agt.  Am.  Col.  Soc.  for  Ohio. 
Messrs.  Hardesty,  Bigger,  Olds,  and  others. 


LECTURE 


ON 


AFRICAN  COLONIZATION. 


Ever  since  the  fall  of  man,  and  his  expulsion  from  that  Eden  of 
bliss,  assigned  him  in  his  state  of  innocence,  a  warfare  has  been 
waged  between  good  and  evil.  The  conflict  has  been  varied  in  its 
results,  sometimes  good  and  at  others  evil  having  the  ascendency. 
But  why  is  it  that  an  all-wise,  all-powerful,  omniscient  and  infinitely 
benevolent  Being  should  have  permitted  the  introduction  of  moral 
evil  into  the  world,  and  in  his  providence  allow  its  continuance,  we 
cannot  determine,  nor  shall  we  wait  to  inquire. 

We  believe  that  errors  of  judgment  and  opinion,  and  all  evil 
actions,  and  every  form  of  wickedness  and  injustice  in  the  world, 
have  their  origin  in  the  moral  depravation  of  man's  nature,  and  that 
the  contest  between  gootl  and  evil  will  necessarily  continue  until 
there  shall  be  a  moral  renovation  of  his  heart.  This  moral  deprav- 
ation of  man's  nature  being  general,  its  effects  are  universal,  and  the 
whole  world  has  been  but  a  theater  upon  which  continued  develop- 
ments of  its  workings  have  been  exhibited. 

We  believe  that  God  has  made  provision  for  man's  moral  redemp- 
tion,— for  creating  in  him  a  new  heart  and  renewing  a  right  spirit 
witliin  him — and  that  the  Gospel  is  the  ordmary  medium  through 
which  this  blessing  flows  to  mankind.  And  believing  this,  we  have 
full  confidence  in  the  success  of  all  enterprises  for  the  amelioration 
'^  of  the  condition  of  mankind,  which  embrace  the  Christian  religion 
^  V  as  the  basis  of  their  operations. 

(l;^  The  history  of  African  slavery  forms  one  of  the  darkest  pages  in 
the  catalogue  of  woes  introduced  into  the  world  by  human  depravity. 
It  originated  in  the  islands  connected  with  this  continent.in  an  error 
of  iudffment,  but,  stransre  to  say,  from  motives  of  benevolence,  and  has 
been  productive  of  an  accumulation  of  human  sufiermg  which  affords 
a  most  painful  illustration  of  the  want  of  foresight  in  man,  and  the 
immensity  of  the  evils  which  misguided  philanthropy  may  inflict 

~  upon  our  race. 

^      In  attempting  to  bring  up  in  review  this  enormous  evil  in  its  origin 

»  and  various    aspects,  as    connected    with    colonization,  the    subject 

v  naturally  divides  itself  into  the  following  heads  : 

(3^ 


4  The   Slave   Trade. 

I.  The    origin   of  the  slave  trade,  witli  the  efforts  made  for  its 

suppression. 

II.  Tiie  measures  adopted  at  an  early  day  for  the  emancipation  of 

the  slaves  introduced  into  the  United  States,  with  the  results. 

III.  The  provision  to  be  made  for  the  people  of  color  when  liber- 
ated. 

IV.  The  practicability  of  colonizing  the  free  colored  people  of  the 
United  States. 

W .  The  effects   of  colonization  on  the   native  Africans,  and  upon 

the  missionary  efforts  in  Africa. 
VI.  The  certainty  of  success  of  the  colonization  scheme,  and  of 

the  perpetuity  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia. 

I.  A  Portuguese  exploring  expedition  was  in  progress,  in  1434, 
along  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  having  in  view  the  double  object  of 
conquering  the  Infidels  and  finding  a  passage  by  sea  to  India.  Under 
the  sanction  of  a  bull  of  Pope  Martin  V.,  they  had  granted  to  them 
the  right  to  all  the  territories  they  might  discover,  and  a  plenary 
indulgence  to  the  souls  of  all  who  might  perish  in  the  enterprise,  and 
in  recovering  those  regions  to  Christ  and  his  church.  Anthony 
Gonzales,  an  officer  of  this  expedition,  received  at  Rio  del  Oro,  on 
the  coast  of  Africa,  in  1442,  ten  negro  slaves  and  some  gold  dust  in 
exchange  for  several  Moorish  captives,  which  he  held  in  custody. 
On  his  return  to  Lisbon,  tlie  avarice  of  his  countrymen  was  awakened 
by  his  success,  and  in  a  few  years  thirty  ships  were  fitted  out  in 
pursuit  of  this  gainful  traffic.  These  incipient  steps  in  the  slave 
trade  having  been  taken,  it  was  continued  by  private  adventurers  until 
1841,  when  the  King  of  Portugal  took  the  title  of  Lord  of  Guinea, 
and  erected  many  forts  on  the  African  coast  to  protect  himself  in  this 
iniquitous  war  upon  human  rights. 

Soon  after  the  setdement  of  the  first  colony  in  St.  Domingo,  in 
1493,  the  licentiousness,  rapacity  and  insolence  of  the  Spaniards 
exasperated  the  native  Indians,  and  a  war  breaking  out  between  them, 
the  latter  were  subdued  and  reduced  to  slavery.  But  as  the  avarice 
of  the  Spaniards  was  too  rapacious  and  impatient  to  try  any  method 
of  acquiring  wealth  but  that  of  searching  for  gold,  this  servitude  soon 
became  as  grievous  as  it  was  unjust.  The  Indians  were  driven  in 
crowds  to  the  mountains,  and  compelled  to  work  in  the  mines  by- 
masters  who  imposed  their  tasks  without  mercy  or  discretion.  Labor 
so  disproportioned  to  their  strength  and  former  habits  of  life  wasted 
that  feeble  race  so  rapidly,  that  in  fifteen  years  their  numbers  were 
reduced,  by  the  original  war  and  subsequent  slavery,  from  a  million 
to  sixty  thousand. 

This  enormous  injustice  awakened  tlie  sympathies  of  benevolent 
hearts,  and  great  efforts  were  made  by  the  Dominican  missionaries  to 
rescue  the  Indians  from  such  cruel  oppression.  At  length  Las  Casas 
espoused  their  cause;  but  his  eloquence  and  all  his  efforts,  both  in  the 
Island  and  in  Spain,  were  unavailing.  The  impossibility,  as  it  was 
supposed,  of  carrying  on  any  improvements  in  America,  and  securing 


The   Slave   Trade.  5 

to  the  crowu  of  Spain  the  expected  annual  revenue  of  gold,  unless 
the  Spaniards  could  command  the  labor  of  the  natives,  was  an  in- 
superable objeclion  to  his  plan  of  treatinff  them  as  free  subjects. 

To  remove  this  obstacle,  without  which  it  was  in  vain  to  mention 
his  scheme,  Las  Casas  proposed  to  purcliase  a  sufficient  juimber  of 
Negroes,  from  the  Portuguese  settlements  on  tiie  coast  of  Africa,  to 
be  employed  as  substitutes  for  the  Indians.  Unfortunately  for  the 
children  of  Africa,  this  plan  of  Las  Casas  was  adopted.  As  early  as 
1503,  a  few  Negro  slaves  had  been  sent  into  St.  Domingo,  and  in 
loll,  Ferdinand  had  permitted  them  to  be  imported  in  great  numbers. 
The  labor  of  one  African  was  found  to  be  equal  to  that  of  four 
Lulians.  But  Cardinal  Ximenes,  acting  as  Regent  from  the  death  of 
Ferdinand  to  the  accession  of  Charles,  peremptorily  refused  to  allow 
of  their  further  introduction.  Charles,  however,  on  arriving  in  Spain, 
granted  the  prayer  of  Las  Casas,  and  bestowed  upon  one  of  his 
Flemish  friends  the  monopoly  of  supplying  the  colonies  with  slaves. 
This  favorite  sold  his  right  to  some  Genoese  merchants,  1518,  ani 
they  brought  the  traffic  in  slaves,  between  Africa  and  America,  into 
that  regular  form  which  has  been  continued  to  the  present  time. 

Tluis,  through  motives  of  benevolence  toward  the  poor  oppressed 
native  Indians  of  St.  Domingo,  did  the  mistaken  philanthropy  of  a 
good  man,  co-operating  with  the  avarice  of  the  Christian  world,  entail 
perpetual  chains  and  inflict  unutterable  woes  upon  the  sons  of  Africa. 

This  new  market  for  slaves  having  been  thus  created,  the  nations 
of  Europe  were  soon  found  treating  with  each  other  for  the  extension 
of  the  slave  trade.  *  The  Genoese,'  as  already  stated,  'had,  at  lirst, 
the  monopoly  of  this  new  branch  of  commerce.  The  French  next 
obtained  it,  and  kept  it  until  it  yielded  them,  according  to  Spanish 
official  accounts,  the  sum  of  $204,000,000.  In  1713  the  English 
secured  it  for  tliirty  years.'  But  Spain,  in  1739,  purchased  the 
British  rii^ht  for  the  remaining  four  years,  by  the  payment  of  $500,000. 
The  Dutch  also  participated  to  some  extent  in  the  tra(?ic. 

The  North  American  Colonies  did  not  long  escape  the  introduction 
of  this  curse.  As  early  as  1620,  slaves  were  introduced  by  a  Dutch 
vessel,  which  sailed  up  the  James  river,  and  sold  her  cargo.  From 
that  period  a  iew  slaves  were  introduced  into  North  America  from 
year  to  year,  until  the  beginning  of  the  18th  century,  when  Great 
iBritain,  having  secured  tlie  monopoly  of  the  slave  trade,  as  before 
mentioned,  prosecuted  it  with  great  activity,  and  made  her  own 
Colonies  the  principal  m^rt  for  tiie  victims  of  her  avarice.  But  her 
North  American  Colonies  made  a  vigorous  opposition  to  their  intro- 
duction. Tlie  mother  country,  however,  finding  her  commercial 
interests  greatly  advanced  by  this  traffic,  refused  to  listen  to  their 
remonstrances,  or  to  sanction  their  legislative  prohibitions. 

But  in  addition  to  the  commercial  motive  which  controlled  the 
actions  of  Eiitrland.  another,  still  more  potent,  was  disclosed  in  the 
declaration  of  the  Eail  of  Dartmouth,  in  1777,  when  he  declared,  as 
a  reason  for  forcing  the  Africans  upon  the  Colonies,  that  "Negroes 
cannot  become  Republicans : — they  will  be  a  power  in  our  hands  to 


Q  The   Slave  Trade. 

restrain  the  unruly  Colonists."  The  success  which  a  kind  provi- 
dence granted  to  the  arms  of  the  Colonists,  in  their  struggle  for 
independence,  however,  soon  enabled  them  to  control  this  evil,  and 
ultimately  to  expel  it  from  our  coasts. 

In  consequence  of  citizens  of  the  Colonies  being  involved  in  the 
traffic,  in  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  the  period  for  the  termina- 
tion of  the  slave  trade  was  prolonged  until  January,  1808.  But 
Cono-ress,  in  anticipation,  passed  a  law,  on  March  3d,  1807,  prohibit- 
ino-  the  fitting  out  of  any  vessels  for  the  slave  trade  after  that  date, 
and  forbidding  the  importation  of  any  slaves  after  January,  1808, 
under  the  penalty  of  imprisonment  from  five  to  ten  years,  a  fine  of 
$20,000,  and  the  forfeiture  of  the  vessels  employed  therein.  This 
act  also  authorized  tlie  President  of  the  United  States  to  employ 
armed  vessels  to  cruise  on  the  coasts  of  Africa  and  the  United  States 
to  prevent  infractions  of  the  law. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1819,  another  act  was  passed,  re-affirming 
the  former  act,  and  authorizing  the  President  to  make  provision  for 
the  safe-keeping  and  support  of  all  recaptured  Africans,  and  for  their 
return  to  Africa.  This  movement  was  prompted  by  the  exertions  of 
the  American  Colonization  Society,  which  had  been  organized  on 
the  first  of  January,  1817,  and  embraced  among  its  members  many 
of  the  most  inlluential  men  in  the  nation. 

On  the  first  of  Marcli,  preceding  the  passage  of  this  act,  a 
gendeman  from  Virginia  offered  a  resolution  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, which  was  passed  without  a  division,  declaring  that  every 
person  who  should  import  any  slave,  or  purchase  one  so  imported, 
should  be  punished  with  death.  The  incident  reveals  to  us,  in  a 
very  unequivocal  manner,  the  state  of  public  sentiment  at  that  time. 
In  the  following  year,  1820,  Congress  gave  the  crowning  act  to  her 
legislation  upon  this  subject,  by  tlie  passage  of  the  la\v  declaring  the 
slave  trade  piracy.  This  decisive  measure,  the  first  of  the  kind 
amono-  nations,  and  which  stamped  the  slave  trade  with  deserved 
infamy,  it  should  be  remembered,  was  recommended  by  a  committee 
of  the  House  in  a  Report  founded  on  a  memorial  of  the  Colonization 
Society.  Tims  terminated  the  legislative  measures  adopted  by  our 
Government  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade. 

We  shall  now  turn  to  Great  Britain,  the  most  extensive  participator 
in  this  iniquitous  traffic,  and  ascertain  the  success  of  the  measures 
adopted  for  its  suppression  in  that  direction. 

Through  the  efforts  of  Wilberforce  and  his  co-adjutors,  the  Bridsh 
Parliament  passed  an  act  in  1806,  which  was  to  take  efiect  in  1808, 
by  which  the  slave  trade  was  forever  prohibited  to  her  West  India 
Colonies.  But  the  want  of  wisdom  and  foresight  involved  in  the 
measures  adopted  to  accomplish  this  great  work,  soon  became  mani- 
fest. Had  Great  Britain  prevailed  upon  or  compelled  Portugal  and 
Spain  to  unite  with  her,  the  annihilation  of  the  slave  trade  might 
have  been  effected.  The  traffic  being  abandoned  by  England,  and 
left  free  to  all  others,  was  continued  under  the  flags  of  Portugal  and 
Spain,  and  their  tropical  colonies  soon  received  such  large  accessions 


The.  Slave  Trade.  7 

of  slaves,  as  to  enable   them  to  begin  to  rival  Great  Britain  in  the 
supply  01  tropical  products  to  the  markets  of  the  world. 

But  tlie  philaiitiiropic  Wilberforcc  persevered  in  his  efforts,  and, 
after  a  striiwle  ol'  thirty  years,  succeeded  in  procuring  the  passage  of 
the  Act  of  Parliament,  in  1824,  declaring  the  slave  trade  piracy. 
This  was  four  years  after  tlie  passage  of  the  Act  of  our  Congress 
which  declared  it  piracy,  and  subjected  those  engaged  therein  to  the 
penalty  of  death. 

This  decisive  action  of  the  two  Governments  was  hailed  with  joy 
by  the  phihuithropisis  of  the  world,  and  their  efforts  were  now  put 
forth  to  influence  all  the  other  Christian  powers  to  unite  in  the  sup- 
pression of  this  horrible  traffic.  Their  exertions  wore  ultimately 
crowned  with  success,  and  their  joy  was  unbounded.  England, 
France,  the  United  States,  and  the  other  Christian  powers,  not  only 
declared  it  piracy,  but  agreed  to  employ  an  armed  force  for  its  sup- 
pression. This  engagement,,  however,  was  not  carried  out  by  all  of 
the  Governments  who  had  assented  to  the  proposition;  yet,  still,  the 
hope  was  confidenUy  entertained  that  the  day  for  the  destruction  of 
the  slave  trade  had  come,  and  that  this  reproach  of  Christian  nations 
would  be  blotted  out  for  ever. 

But,  alas,  how  short-sighted  is  man,  and  how  futile,  often,  his 
.realest  efforts  to  do  good.  The  vanity  of  human  wisdom  and  the 
ulter  imbecility  of  human  legislation,  in  the  removal  of  moral  evil, 
was  never  more  signally  shown  than  in  this  grand  struggle  for  the 
suppression  of  the  slave  trade.  Instead  of  having  been  checked  and 
suppressed,  and  the  demons  in  human  form  who  carried  it  on  having 
been  deterred  from  continuing  the  traffic  by  the  dread  penalty  of  death, 
as  was  confidently  anticipated,  it  has  gone  on  increasing  in  extent  and 
with  an  accumulation  of  horrors  that  surpass  belief.  A  glance  at  its 
history  proves  this  but  too  fully,  and  shows  that  the  warl'ire  between 
good  and  evil  is  one  of  no  ordinary  magnitude. 

Edwards,  the  historian  of  the  West  Indies,  states,  that  the  import- 
ation of  slaves  from  Africa,  in  British  vessels,  from  1680  to  1786, 
averaged  20,000  annually.  In  1792,  Mr.  Fox  and  Mr.  Pitt  both 
agreed  in  estimating  the  numbers  torn  from  Africa  at  80,000  per 
annum.  From  1798  to  1810,  recent  English  Parliamentary  docu- 
ments show  the  numbers  exported  from  Africa  to  have  averaged  85, 
000  per  annum,  and  the  mortality  during  the  voyage  to  have  been 
14  per  cent.  From  1810  to  1815  the  same  documents  present  an 
average  of  93,000  per  annum,  and  the  loss  durinij  the  middle  passage 
to  have  equalled  that  of  the  preceding  period.  From  1815  to  1819 
the  export  of  slaves  had  increased  to  106,000  annually,  and  the 
mortality  during  the  voyage  to  25  per  cent. 

Here,  then,  is  brought  to  view  the  extent  of  die  evil  which  called 
for  such  energetic  action,  and  which,  it  was  hoped,  could  be  easily 
crushed  by  legislation.     Let  us  now  look  forward  to  the  results. 

While  the  slave  trade  was  sanctioned  by  law,  its  extent  could  be  as 
easily  ascertained  as  that  of  any  other  branch  of  commerce;  but  after 
that  period,  the  estimates  of  its  extent  are  only  approximations. 


8  The  Slave   Trade 

The  late  Sir  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton  devoted  himself  with  un 
wearied  industry  to  the  investigation  of  the  extent  and  enormities  of  the 
foreign  slave  trade.  His  labors  extended  through  many  years,  and 
the  results,  as  published  in  1840,  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  throughout 
the  Christian  world.  He  proved,  conclusively,  that  the  victims  to 
the  slave  trade,  in  ^^frica,  amounted  annually  to  500,000.  This 
included  the  numbers  who  perish  in  the  seizure  of  the  victims,  in  the 
wars  of  the  natives  upon  each  other,  and  the  deaths  during  their 
march  to  the  coast  and  the  detention  there  before  embarkation.  This 
loss  he  estimates  at  one  half,  or  500  out  of  every  1000.  The  destruc- 
tion of  life  during  the  middle  passage  he  estimates  at  25  percent.,  or 
125  out  of  the  remaining  500  of  the  original  thousand.  'I'he  moital- 
ity  after  landing  and  in  seasoning  he  shows  is  20  per  cent,  or  one-fifth 
of  the  375  survivors.  Thus  he  proves  that  the  number  of  lives 
sacrificed  by  the  system,  bears  to  the  number  of  slaves  available  to 
the  planter,  the  proportion  of  seven  to  three — that  is  to  say,  for  every 
300  slaves  landed  and  sold  in  the  market,  700  have  fallen  victims  to 
the  deprivations  and  cruelties  connected  with  the  traffic. 

The  p;irliamentary  documents  above  relerred  to  vary  but  little  from 
the  estimates  of  Mr.  Buxton,  excepting  that  they  do  not  compute  the 
number  of  victims  destroyed  in  Africa  in  their  seizure  and  transporta- 
tion to  the  coast.  The  following  table,  extracted  from  these  docu- 
ments, presents  the  average  number  of  slaves  exported  from  Africa  to 
America,  and  sold  chiefly  in  Brazil  and  Cuba,  with  the  per  cent 
amount  of  loss  in  the  periods  designated. 

_     _  Animal  average       Av'ge  casualties  of  voyage. 

^'•^^'^-  numlier  eX|iorled.     Per  Ct.  Amount. 

1798  to  1805  85,000  14  12,000 

1805  to  1810  85,000  14  12,000 

1810  to  1815  93,000  14  13,000 

1815  to  1817  106,000  25  26,600 

1817  to  1819  106,000  25  26,600 

1819  to  1825  103,000  25  25,800 

1825  to  1830  125,000  25  31,000 

1830  to  1835  78,500  25  19,600 

1835  to  1840  135,800  25  33,900 

This  enormous  increase  of  the  slave  trade,  it  must  be  remembered, 
had  taken  place  during  the  peri(xl  of  vigorous  efibrts  for  its  suppres- 
sion. England,  alone,  according  to  McQueen,  had  expended  for  this 
object,  up  to  1842,  in  the  employment  of  a  naval  force  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  the  sum  of  $88,888,888,  and  he  estimated  the  animal  expen- 
diture at  that  time  at  $2,500,000.  But  it  has  been  increased  since 
that  period  to  $3,000,000  a  year,  making  the  total  expenditure  of 
Great  Britain,  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  at  the  close  of 
1848,  more  than  one  /lundred  millions  of  dollars  !  France  and  the 
United   States  have  also  expended  a  larue  amount  for  this  object. 

The  disclosures  of  Mr.  Buxton  produced  a  profound  sensation 
throughout  England,  and  the  conviction  was  forced  upon  the  public 
mind,  and  "upon  Her  Majesty's    confidential   advisers,"  that  the 


The  Slave   Trade.  9 

slave  trade  could  iwt  he  suppressed  by  physical  force,  znd  that  it 
was  "  indispensable  to  enter  upon  some  new  preventive  system 
calculated  to  arrest  the  foreign  slave  trade." 

The  remedy  proposed  and  attempted  to  be  carried  out,  was  "  (he 
deliverance  of  Africa  ly  calling  forth  her  own  resources." 

To  accomplish  this  great  work,  the  capitalists  of  England  were  to 
set  on  foot  agricultural  companies,  who,  under  the  protection  of  t!ie 
Government,  should  obtain  lands  by  treaty  with  the  natives,  and 
employ  them  in  its  tillage, — to  send  out  trading  ships  and  open 
factories  at  the  most  commanding  positions, — to  increase  and  con- 
centrate the  Englisli  naval  force  on  the  coast,  and  to  make  treaties 
with  the  chiefs  of  the  coast,  the  rivers  and  the  interior.  These 
measures  adopted,  the  companies  formed  were  to  call  to  their  aid 
a  race  of  teachers  of  African  blood,  from  Sierra  Leone  and  the  West 
Indies,  who  should  labor  with  the  whites  in  diffusing  intelligence,  in 
imparting  relisjious  instruction,  in  teaching  agrieultuie,  in  establishing 
and  encouraging  lecritimate  commerce,  and  in  impeding  and  suppress- 
ing the  slave  trade.  In  conformity  with  these  views  and  aims,  the 
African  Civilization  Society  was  formed,  and  the  Government  fitted 
out  three  large  iron  steamers,  at  an  expense  of  8300,000,  for  the  use 
of  the  company. 

Mr.  McQueen,  who  had  for  more  than  twenty  years  devoted  him- 
self to  the  consideration  of  Africa's  redemption  and  Britain's  glory, 
and  who  had  become  the  most  perfect  master  of  African  geography 
and  African  resources,  also  appealed  to  the  Government,  and  urged 
tb.e  adoption  of  measures  for  making  all  Africa  a  dependency  of 
the  British  Empire.  Speaking  of  what  England  had  already  accom- 
plished, and  of  what  she  could  yet  achieve,  he  exclaims  : 

"Unfold  the  map  of  the  workl :  We  command  the  Ganires. 
Fortified  at  Bombay,  the  Indus  is  our  own.  Possessed  of  the  islands 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  we  command  the  outlets  of  Persia 
and  the  mouths  of  the  Euphrates,  and  consequently  of  countries  the 
cradle  of  the  human  race.  We  command  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  Gibraltar  and  Malta  belonging  to  us,  we  control  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Let  us  plant  the  British  standard  on  the  island  of  Socatora 
— upon  the  island  of  Fernando  Po,  and  inland  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Niger ;  and  then  we  may  say  Asia  and  Africa,  for  all  their  productions 
and  all  their  w^ants,  are  under  our  control.  It  is  in  our  power. 
Nothing  can  prevent  us." 

But  Providence  rebuked  this  proud  boast.  The  African  Civilization 
Society  commenced  its  labors  under  circumstances  the  most  favorable 
for  success.  Its  list  of  members  embraced  many  of  the  noblest 
names  of  the  kingdom.  Men  of  science  and  intelligence  embarked 
in  it,  and,  when  the  expedition  set  sail,  a  shout  of  joy  arose  and  a 
prayer  for  success  ascended  from  ten  thousand  philanthropic  English 
voices. 

But  this  magnificent  scheme,  fraught  with  untold  blessings  to  Africa, 
and  destined,  it  was  believed,  not  only  to  regenerate  her  speedily, 
but  to  produce  a  revenue  of  unnumbered  millions  of  dollars  to  the 


10  The  Slave   Trade. 

stockholders,  proved  an  utter  failure.  The  African  climate,  that 
deadly  foe  to  the  white  man,  blighted  the  enterprise.  In  a  few 
months,  disease  and  death  had  so  far  reduced  the  numbers  of  the 
men  connected  with  the  expedition,  that  the  enterprise  was  abandon- 
ed, and  the  only  evidence  of  its  ever  having  ascended  the  Niger 
exists  in  its  model  farm  left  in  the  care  of  a  Liberian. 

This  result,  however,  had  been  anticipated  by  many  of  the  judicious 
Englishmen  who  had  not  suffered  tlieir  enthusiasm  to  overcome  their 
judgments,  but  who  had  opposed  it  as  wild  and  visionary  in  the 
extreme,  on  account  of  the  known  fatality  «f  the  climate  to  white 
men. 

Thus  did  the  last  direct  effort  of  England  for  the  redemption  of 
Africa  prove  abortive.  The  slave  trade  has  still  been  prosecuted 
with  little  abatement,  and  for  the  last  few  years  with  an  alarming 
increase.  The  statistics  in  the  parliamentary  report,  before  quoted, 
and  from  which  we  have  extracted  the  table  exhibiting  the  extent  of 
the  slave  trade  between  Africa  and  America,  down  to  1839,  also 
present  the  following  table,  including  the  numbers  exported  from 
Africa  to  America,  from  1840  to  1847  inclusive,  with  the  per  cent,  of 
loss  in  the  middle  passage  and  the  amount.*     It  is  as  follows  : 


Years. 

Numbers. 

Loss. 

Per  Cl. 

Jljnount. 

1840 

64,114 

25 

16,068 

1841 

45,097 

25 

11,274 

1842 

28,400 

25 

7,100 

1843 

55,062 

25 

13,765 

1844 

54,102 

25 

1.3,525 

1845 

36,758 

25 

9,189 

1846 

76,117 

25 

19,029 

1847 

84,356 

25 

21,089 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  melancholy  truth  forced  upon  us,  that  the 
slave  trade  was  carried  on  as  actively  in  1847  as  from  1788  to  1810; 
while  the  destruction  of  life  during  the  middle  passage  has  been 
increased  from  14  percent,  to  25;  and  that  while  the  vigorous  means 
used  to  suppress  the  traffic,  during  these  fifty  years,  have  failed  of 
this  end,  they  have  greatly  aggravated  its  horrors. 

And  such  was  the  conviction  of  the  total  inadequacy  of  the  means 
which  had  been  employed  by  the  British  Government  to  check  or 
suppress  the  evil,  that  the  British  and  Foreign  Anti-Slavery  Society 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1847,  after  declaring  that  the  slave  trade  was 
then  more  actively  and  systematically  prosecuted  than  for  many 
years,  and  that  its  horrors  had  been  greatly  increased,  urged  upon  the 
Government,  from  motives  of  humanity,  the  suspension  of  all 
physical  force,  and  the  repeal  of  all  laws  inflicting  penalties  upon 

*  There  is  some  discrepancy  in  the  authorities  from  which  we  quote  the  figures. 
We  have  not  had  access  to  the  original  document.  One  of  our  authorities  gives 
the  whole  number  of  these  exports  from  Africa  to  Brazil,  and  a  proportional  number 
to  Cuba.  This  would  greatly  increase  all  our  estimates  based  upon  the  figures 
of  this  table. 


>;' 


Tlie  Slave   Trade.  11 

those  engaged  in  the  traffic.  It  was  proved  that  the  slave  traders, 
when  closely  pursued  by  vessels  of  war,  often  hide  the  evidences  of 
their  guilt,  when  favored  by  the  darkness  of  the  night,  by  burying  the 
slaves  with  which  they  were  freighted  in  die  depths  of  tlie  ocean;  or 
by  persevering  in  refusing  to  surrender,  force  tlie  pursuing  vessels 
to  continue  tiring  into  them,  and  thus  endanger  and  destroy  the  inno- 
cent victims  crowded  between  Uic  decks  of  their  vessels.  It  was  also 
urged  that  die  African- Civilization  Society  be  revived,  but  that,  instead 
of  lohite  men,  the  emigrants  be  taken  from  the  better  educated  and 
more  enlightened  of  the  West  India  colored  population.  IJy  the 
adoption  of  this  course,  and  the  civilization  of  the  Africans  along  the 
coast,  they  hope  to  seal  the  fountain  whence  the  evil  flows. 

This  brief  oudine  of  tlie  slave  trade,  and  of  the  ellbrts  made  by 
Great  Britain  for  its  suppression,  and  the  utter  failure  of  the  measures 
which  she  had  adopted  to  accomplish  Uiat  object,  prove,  conclusively, 
two  points  which  American  philanthropists  had  for  years  urged  as 
setded  truths,  viz : 

1.  That  the  planting  and  building  vp  of  Christian  Colonies  on 
the  coast  of  Africa,  is  the  only  practical  remedy  for  the  slave  trade. 

2.  That  colored  men  only,  can  with  safety,  settle  upon  the 
African  Coast. 

And  so  fully  has  the  British  Government  now  become  convinced 
» f  the  truth  of  these  propositions,  that  Lord  Palmerston  has  not  only 
placed  a  naval  force  at  the  disposal  of  the  President  of  Liberia  for 
the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  on  territory  recently  purchased, 
where  the  slave  traders  refused  to  leave,  but  has,  in  connection  with 
others,  offered  ample  pecuniary  means  to  purchase  the  whole  territory 
between  Sierra  Leone  and  Liberia,  now  infested  by  those  traffickers 
in  human  flesh,  with  the  view  of  annexing  it  to  the  litUe  Republic, 
and  thus  rescuing  it  from  their  hands. 

By  this  act,  Englishmen  have  acknowledged  the  superiority  of  our 
scheme  of  African  redemption  over  that  of  the  philanthropists  of 
Britain,  and  have  thus  given  assurances  to  the  world  that  their  plan 
of  making  Africa  a  dependency  of  the  British  Crown  has  been 
abandoned,  and  that  a  change  of  policy  toward  our  colony  has  been 
adopted.  All  their  own  schemes  in  relation  to  Africa  having  failed, 
they  are  constrained  to  acknowledge  the  wisdom  and  success  of  ours, 
and  are  the  first  to  avail  themselves  of  the  commercial  advantages 
affi^rded  to  the  world  by  the  creation  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia. 

But  we  shall,  under  another  head,  revert  again  to  this  subject,  and 
present  some  facts  which  may  serve  to  explain  the  course  of  England 
in  her  sudden  expression  of  friendship  and  sympathy  for  our  Colony. 

II.  The  efforts  made,  at  an  early  day,  for  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  in  the  United  States,  with  the  results. 

On  this  important  question  there  was  not  the  same  unanimity  of 
sentiment  which  had  prevailed  upon  that  of  the  slave  trade.  The 
love  of  ease,  the  prospect  of  gain,  the  fear  that  so  large  a  body  of 
ignorant  men  would  be  dangerous  to  the  public  peace,  and  many 


12 


Emancipation  oj  Slaves  in  the  United  States. 


other  considerations,  influenced  the  minds  of  a  large  number  to 
oppose  the  liberation  of  the  slaves.  But,  notwithstanding  this  oppo- 
sition, the  work  progressed,  until  Acts  of  Emancipation  were  carried 
througli  the  Legislatures  of  all  the  States  north  of  Delaware,  Mary- 
land and  Vircrinia.  Nor  was  this  good  woik  confined  to  tlie  States 
which  were  engaged  in  legislative  enactments  for  emancipation.  The 
feelings  of  humanity  which  dictated  the  liberation  of  the  slave  in  the 
northern  States,  pervaded  the  minds  of  good  men  in  the  southern 
States  also. 

The  full  extent  of  the  emancipations  in  the  slave  States  cannot  be 
accurately  ascertained.  The  census  tables,  however,  supply  sufficient 
testimony  on  this  point  to  enable  us  to  reach  a  close  approximation 
to  the  true  number  which  have  been  liberated  since  1790,  when  the 
first  census  of  the  United  States  was  taken. 

The  following  table  gives  the  number  of  free  colored  people  in 
1790,  with  the  number  in  all  the  subsequent  periods  up  to  1840,  and 
the  increase  in  each  ten  years,  together  with  the  increase  per 
cent,  per  annum. 

I. 

Table  showing  the  number   of  the  Free  colored  population  of  the 

United  States. 


YEARS. 

1790 

1800 

1810 

1820 

1830 

319,599 

81,402 

3.41  + 

1840 

Total  number 
Actual  increase 
Increase  per  cent, 
per  annum 

59,466 

108,398 
48,932 

8.22  + 

186,446 

78,048 

7.20+ 

238,197 
51,751 

2.77+ 

380,235 
66,636 

2.08  + 

In  1790  the  feeling  in  favor  of  emancipation,  it  will  be  seen,  had 
given  us  a  free  colored  population  of  nearly  60,000  persons.  What 
proportion  of  these  v;cxefrre-born  cannot  be  determined,  but  it  would 
probably  not  exceed  one-half. 

The  number  of  slaves  in  the  free  States,  in  1790,  and  the  decrease 
in  each  period,  up  to  1840,  with  the  anmicd  decrease  per  cent,  was 
as  follows  : 

II. 

Table  exhibiting  the  number  of  Slaves  in  the  Free  States  from 

1790  to  1840. 


YEARS. 

1790 

1800 

1810       1820; 

27,181     18,001 
8,622      9,180 

3.17+     5.04+ 

1830 

1840 

Total  number 
Actual  decrease 
Decrease  per  cent, 
per  annum 

40,212 

35,803 
4,409 

1.23  + 

2,774 
•n  5,227 

18.88+ 

764 
2,010 

26.30+ 

The  decrease  of  the  slaves  in  the  free  States,  after  1790,  is  not 
greater  than  the  deaths  in  a  population  of  such  a  class  of  persons. 

*  By  a  law  of  New  York  1 0,000  slaves  were  emancipated  in  one  day  in  1827,  thus 
decreasing  the  number  of  slaves,  and  increasing  the  free  colored,  as  stated  in  this 
table 


Emancipation  of  Slaves  in  the  United  States. 


13 


Pennsylvania  passed  her  emancipation  act  in  1780,  anil  the  other 
states  soon  afterward  followed  her  example,  but  at  wliat  periods  we 
are  not  at  present  informed.*  It  is  probable  that  the  free  colored 
population  was  not  increased  by  emancipations  of  the  slaves  remain- 
ing in  the  free  states  after  1790,  because,  as  before  stated,  the  decrease 
of  these  slaves  did  not  exceed  the  mortality,  excepting  in  1827,  when 
New  York  liberated  all  hers  then  remaining  in  bondage.  Any  in- 
crease of  the  free  colored  population,  therefore,  over  their  natural 
increase  will  have  been  produced  by  emancipations  in  the  slave 
stales. 

Tlie  following  table,  taken  in  connection  with  table  I,  shows,  that 
from  1830  to  1840  the  increase  of  the  free  colored  population  was 
reduced  to  but  a  very  small  fraction  over  two  per  cent,  per  annum. 
Two  per  cent,  per  annum,  therefore,  may  be  taken  as  the  ratio  of 
the  natural  increase  of  the  free  colored  population.  The  excess 
over  two  per  cent,  must,  then,  have  been  derived  from  emancipations. 

ni. 

Fate  per  cent,  per  annum  of  increase  of  Population  of  the  United 

States. 


Free  colored 

All 

\  cars. 

Whiles, 

Free  colored 

and  Slaves. 

combined. 

1790  to   1800 

3.56 

8.22 

2.79 

3.22 

3.50 

1800  to   1810 

3.61 

7.20 

3.34t 

3.75 

3.64 

1810  to   1820 

3.43 

2.77 

2.95 

2.93 

3.33 

1820  to   1830 

3.38 

3.41 

3.01 

3.06 

3.32 

1830  to   1840 

3.46 

2.08 

2.32 

2.33 

3.26, 

Average 

3.48 

4.73 

2.88 

3.06 

3.41 

Adopting  this  rule  of  computation,  we  find  that  the  emancipations, 
in  the  slave  states,  from  1790  to  1830,  must  have  been  131,700.  If 
to  this  we  add  one-half  of  the  number  who  were  free  iw  1790,  or 
30,000,  it  makes  the  total  emancipations  up  to  1830  amount  to  16U 
700.  The  extent  of  the  pecuniary  sacrifice  made  to  the  cause  of 
emancipation  by  benevolent  men  involved  in  slavery,  will  be  belter 
understood  by  estimating  the  number  emancipated  at  $!350  each, 
which  gives  a  product  of  $56,595,000.  This  estimated  value  is  low 
enough. 

To  this  sum,  however,  should  be  added  the  number  of  slaves 
emancipated  and  sent  to  Liberia,  which,  up  to  1843,  aqiounted  to 
2,290.     If  to   these   are  added  the   emancipated  slaves  sent  out  to 

*  We  find  the  following  statement  in  relation  to  the  number  of  slaves  in  the 
United  States  at  an  earlier  period,  in  the  American  Almanac.  At  the  time 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in  1776,  the  whole  number  of  slaves  was 
estimated  at  500,000,  viz. : 

3,000    New  Jersey, 
4,."nO    Pennsylvania, 
5,000    Delaware, 
629    Maryland, 
15,000    Virginia, 

+  It  should  have  been  stated  that  Louisiana  was  admitted  between  1800  and 
1810,  bringing  in  39,000  Africans.  This  produced  the  increase  of  the  ratio  for  1810. 


Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island, 
Connecticut, 
New  Hampshire, 
New  York, 


7,600    N.  Carolina, 
10,000   S.  Carolina, 
9.000 
80,000 
165,000 


Georgia, 
Total, 


76,000 

110,000 

16,000 

501,599. 


14  Emancipation  of  Slaves  in  the  United  States. 

Africa  since  that  period,  the  number  of  which  we  cannot  at  present  as- 
ceitain,  we  shall  have  more  than  anotlier  million  of  dollars  to  add  to  the 
above  sum,  thus  making  the  amount  sacrificed  to  the  cause  of  eman- 
cipation butliitle  sliort  of  Jiffy-eight  millions  of  dollars. 

But  in  granting  the  slave  his  freedom,  it  seemed  to  be  decided  by_ 
common  consent,  that  the  British  statesman  was  right  in  asserting 
tliat  A^egroes  coidd  not  become  Repuhlicans.  The  right  of  sutlVage 
was  not  extended  to  them.  'J"he  stimulus  of  entering  into  competition 
for  the  highest  posts  of  honor  was  not  afforded  to  the  man  of  color  to 
prompt  him  to  great  mental  effort.  Able  to  tinrl  employment  only  in  the 
more  menial  occupations,  his  opportunities  for  intellectual  advancement 
were  poor,  and  his  prospects  of  moral  improvement  still  more  gloomy. 
These  results  of  emancipation  in  the  northern  states  were  watched 
with  great  interest  by  the  philanthropic  citizens  of  the  slave  states. 
The  liberation  of  the  slaves  in  the  free  stales  had  fallen  so  far  short 
of  securing  the  amount  of  good  anticipated,  that  the  friends  of  the 
colored  man  became  less  urgent  and  zealous  in  their  efforts  to  secure 
further  legislative  action,  while  the  opponent  of  the  measure  was 
furnished  with  a  new  argument  to  sustain  him  in  his  course  of  liostil- 
ity  to  emancipation,  and  was  soon  able  to  secure  the  passage  of  laws 
for  its  proliibition,  under  the  specious  plea  that  a  large  increase  of  the 
free  colored  population  by  emancipation  could  not  be  productive  of 
good  either  to  themselves  or  to  the  whites. 

That  some  powerful  cause  operated  in  checking  emancipations 
after  1810,  and  tliat  it  again  received  a  new  impulse  from  1820  to 
1830,  is  undeniable.  The  number  emancipated  in  the  slave  states, 
during  the  several  periods,  as  is  determined  by  the  rule  before  adopted, 
was  as  follows  : 

1790  to  1800    emancipations  were  37,042 
1800  to   1810  "  "  ,^6,414 

1810  to   1820  "  "  14,471 

1820  to  1830  "  "  33,772* 

1830  to  1840  "  "  000 

From  1790  to  1810  some  of  the  most  powerful  minds  in  the 
nation  were  directed  to  the  consideration  of  the  enormous  evils  of 
slavery,  and  the  effects  of  tlieir  labors  are  exhibited  in  the  number  of 
emancipations  made  during  that  period.  The  decline  of  emancipa- 
tions after  1810,  we  believe  to  be  due  to  the  cause  assigned  above — 
the  little  benefit,  apparently,  which  had  resulted  from  the  liberation 
of  the  slaves,  and  the  consequent  relaxation  of  effort  by  the  fiiends  of 
emancipation. 

The  impulse  given  to  emancipation  between  1820  and  1830,  it  is 
believed,  was  caused  by  the  favorable  influences  exerted  by  the 
Colonization  Society,  which  enjoyed  a  great  degree  of  popularity 
during  this  period.  But  from  1830  to  1840,  the  period  when  the 
Society  had    the   fewest   friends,  the    increase    of  the  free    colored 

*The  10,000  emancipated  in  New  York  being  deductec],  will  leave  23,772  in  this 
period. 


Emancipation  of  Slaves  in  the  United  States.  15 

population  was  reduced  lo  only  two  per  cent,  per  iinniim,  showing 
that  emancipations  must  Ii;ive  nearly  ceased,  or  that  the  deatiis  among 
our  free  colored  people  are  so  nearly  equal  to  the  births,  that  some 
decisive  measures  are  demanded,  by  considerations  of  Immanity,  to 
place  them  under  circumstances  more  favorable  than  they  at  present 
enjoy. 

It  may  be  well  in  this  place  to  call  attention  to  the  fact,  that  while 
the  natural  increase  of  our  free  colored  population  cannot  exceed  two 
per  cent,  per  annum,  that  of  the  slaves,  notwitiistanding  the  numerous 
emancipations,  has  been  three  per  cent,  per  annum,  excepting  in  the 
first  period,  when  the  disparity  in  the  sexes  produced  by  the  slave 
trade  might  produce  a  greater  mortality  than  would  afterward  occur; 
and  in  the  last  period,  between  1830  and  1840,  during  which  the 
great  revulsions  in  business,  producing  an  immense  number  of  bank- 
ruptcies in  the  south,  caused  thousands  of  embarrassed  debtors  to 
remove  their  slaves  lo  Texas,  beyond  the  reach  of  their  creditors. 
The  slaves  thus  removed,  not  being  included  in  the  census  of -18-10, 
caused  a  reduction  in  the  ratio  of  our  slave  increase.     See  table  III. 

Thus  we  find,  that  in  the  earlier  periods  of  our  history,  the 
promptings  of  philanthropy  and  the  influence  of  Cliristian  principle 
produced  a  public  sentiment  which  controlled  legislation,  and  broke 
the  chain  of  the  slave.  And  where  legislation  failed,  it  operated  with 
equal  power  on  the  hearts  of  men,  and  produced  the  same  salutary 
eflects.  But  while  emancipation  was  found  to  have  produced  to  the 
white  man  the  richest  fruits,  it  was  observed,  with  painful  feelings, 
that  to  the  colored  man  it  had  been  productive  of  iitde  else  than  the 
"Apples  of  Sodom." 

These  results  of  emancipation  led  to  anxious  inquiries  in  relation 
^o  the  disposal  of  the  free  colored  population.  It  was  all-important, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  friends  of  the  colored  man,  that  he  should  be 
placed  under  circumstances  where  the  degradation  of  centuries  might 
be  forgotten,  and  where  he  might  become  an  honor  to  his  race  and  a 
benefactor  to  the  world.  The  conviction  forced  itself  upon  their 
minds,  that  a  separate  political  organization — a  Government  of 
Itis  own,  ichere  he  would  be  free  in  fact  as  tcell  as  in  name — was 
the  only  means  by  which  they  could  fully  discharge  the  debt  due  to 
him,  and  place  him  in  a  position  where  his  prospects  of  advancement 
would  be  based  upon  a  sure  foundation. 

These  remarks  bring  us  to  the  consideration  of  the  third  branch 
of  our  subject. 

I  III.  The  provision  to  be  made  for  the  people  of  color  when 
liberated. 
A  separate  political  orcfanization  was  decided  upon,  and  Coloniza- 
tion, at  a  distant  point,  beyond  the  influence  of  the  whites,  considered 
the  only  means  of  future  security  to  the  colored  man.  To  select  the 
field  for  tlie  founding  of  the  future  African  Empire  was  not  such  an 
easv  task.  The  history  of  the  Indian  tribes  had  proved,  but  toe 
forcibly,  that  an  establishment  upon  the  territory  of  tlie  United  States 


16  Colonization  to  Liberia. 

would  soon  become  unsafe,  in  consequence  of  the  rapid  and  universal 
extension  of  the  white  population.  The  unsettled  state  of  the  South 
American  Republics  was  considered  as  offering  still  less  security 
Europe  had  no  room  for  them,  nor  desire  to  possess  them.  England 
has  already  removed  those  cast  upon  herself  and  her  Canadian  pos- 
sessions, by  the  casualties  of  war,  back  again  to  Africa,  and  founded 
her  Colony  of  Sierra  Leone.  The  only  remaining  point  was  Africa. 
Its  western  coast  wms  of  most  easy  access,  being  but  litde  further  from 
us  than  Havre  or  Liverpool.  The  condition  of  its  native  population 
offered  many  obstacles  to  the  establishment  of  a  colony.  But  the 
inducements  to  select  it  as  the  field  of  the  enterprise  in  contempla- 
tion were  also  many.  It  was  the  land  of  the  fathers  of  those  who 
were  to  emigrate.  It  was  deeply  sunk  in  both  moral  and  intellectual 
darkness.  The  lowest  rites  of  Pagan  worship  were  widely  practised. 
Human  sacrifices  extensively  prevailed,  and  even  cannibalism  often 
added  its  horrors  to  fill  up  the  picture  of  its  dismal  degradation. 
And,  as  though  the  Spirit  of  Evil  had  resolved  on  concentrating  in 
one  point  all  the  enormities  that  could  be  invented  by  the  fiends  of 
the  nether  pit,  the  slave  trade  was  added  to  the  catalogue,  to  stimulate 
the  worst  passions  of  the  human  heart,  and  produced  evelopments 
of  wickedness  and  of  cruelty,  at  the  bare  recital  of  which  humanity 
shudders.  Except  a  few  points,  no  ray  of  moral  light,  to  guide  to 
a  blissful  eternity,  had  yet  penetrated  the  more  than  midnight  moral 
darkness  which  had  for  ages  shrouded  the  land.  The  deadly  influ- 
ence of  the  climate,  together  with  the  interference  of  the  slave  trade, 
had  hitherto  defeated  the  success  of  missionary  eflbrt,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  no  hope  for  the  moral  renovation  of  Africa  but  through 
the  agency  of  men  of  African  blood,  whose  constitutions  could  be- 
come adapted  to  the  climate,  and  who  could  thus  gain  a  foothold  upon 
the  continent,  repel  the  slave  traders,  and  introduce  civilization  and 
the  gospel. 

Here,  then  was  a  field  for  the  action  of  the  freed-men  of  the  United 
States.  Here  was  a  theater  upon  which  to  exhibit  before  the  world 
the  capacities  of  the  colored  race.  Here,  too,  could  be  solved  the 
problem  of  the  value  of  the  republican  form  of  government.  And, 
above  all,  here  could  be  fully  tested  the  reeenerating,  the  elevating, 
and  the  humanizing  power  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

In  commencing  the  setdement  of  a  colony  of  colored  persons  on 
the  coast  of  Africa,  two  objects  were  to  be  accomplished: 

1.  To  improve  the  condition  of  the  free  colored  people  of  the 
United  States. 

2.  To  civilize  and  christianize  Africa. 

To  these  objects  the  friends  of  the  colored  man  devoted  themselves. 
The  first  emigrants  were  sent  out  in  1820.  The  pecuniary  means 
of  the  society  were  never  very  great,  and  its  progress  in  sending  out 
emigrants  and  in  building  up  the  colony  has  necessarily  been  slow. 
From  the  first  it  met  with  violent  opposition  from  the  slave  traders  on 
the  coast  of  Africa,  who,  by  creating  the  impression  upon  the  minds 
of  the  natives  that  the  colonists  would  prevent  their  further  connectioii 


Colonization  to  Liberia.  17 

with  the  slave  trade,  and  thus  cut  off  their  chief  source  of  acquiring 
wealth,  inflamed  the  minds  of  the  chiefs,  and  prompted  them  to  make 
war  upon  the  colonists.  Soon  after  the  settlement  of  the  colony,  the 
native  warriors,  one  thousand  strong,  attacked  the  emigrants,  who 
numbered  but  thirty-tive  eflective  men.  But  a  kind  Providence 
siiielded  tliem  from  the  infuriated  savages  who  assailed  them,  and 
enabled  that  handful  of  men  to  defeat  their  foes,  in  two  successive 
assaults,  separated  from  each  other  by  several  weeks  of  time,  and, 
riiially.  to  establi>h  themselves  in  peace  in  all  their  borders. 

Additional  emigrants,  from  year  to  year,  were  sent  out.  Mission- 
aries labored,  with  more  or  less  faithfulness,  in  establishing  schools 
and  in  preaching  the  gospel.  The  natives,  in  a  few  years,  became 
convinced  that  the  (.'olonies  were  their  true  friends,  and  that  the 
adoption  of  civilized  habits  would  secure  to  them  greater  comforts 
than  could  be  obtained  by  a  continuation  of  the  slave  trade.  'J'heir 
children  were  seut  to  school  with  those  of  the  colonists.  A  moral 
renovation  commenced  and  progressed  until,  in  the  cour.'-e  of  twenty- 
six  years  from  the  landing  of  the  first  emigrants  at  Monrovia,  the 
colony  attained  a  condition  of  strength  warraniing  its  erection  into  an 
Independent  Republic.  Accordingly,  in  July,  1847,  its  independence 
Was  declared,  and  a  population  of  80,000  adopted  the  constitution  and 
laws,  and  became  members  of  the  Republic.  Its  newly-elected 
President,  J.  J.  Roberts,  a  man  of  color,  in  his  recent  visit  to 
England,  France  and  Germany,  w-as  treated  with  great  respect,  and 
found  no  difhculty  in  securing  tlie  acknowledgment  of  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  Republic  of  Liberia  by  the  two  former  governments. 

But  it  may  be  said,  that,  after  all,  but  little  has  been  done,  compared 
with  the  means  expended,  in  this  effort  to  make  provision  for  the 
free  colored  people,  and  for  the  introduction  of  a  Christian  civilization 
into  Africa.  A  more  striking  view  of  the  results  will  be  brought  out 
by  contrasting  the  producis  of  the  laoors  of  the  Americaii  Coloniza- 
tion Society  with  some  of  the  other  efforts  which  have  been  made  to 
rescue  Africa  from  the  wrongs  inflicted  upon  her. 

England,  mighty  in  power,  and  possessing  the  means  of  executing 
magnificent  enterprises,  has  expended,  as  already  stated,  more  than 
one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade 
and  the  civilization  of  Africa.  But  her  labors  and  her  treasures  have 
been  spent  in  vain.  Her  gold  might  better  have  been  sunk  in  the 
ocean.  The  monster,  hydra-like,  when  smitten  and  one  head  severed 
from  the  body,  has  constantly  reproduced  two  in  its  place;  and,  at 
this  moment,  as  before  shown,  it  is  prosecuted  with  greater  activity 
than  for  many  years. 

It  must  be  remeuibered  that  these  efforts  of  GreEit  Britain  have 
been  made  during  the  period  of  the  existence  of  the  American  Col- 
onization Society,  and  in  seeming  contempt  of  its  pigmy  eflbrts.  For 
years  previous  to  the  independence  of  Liljcria,  and  while  England 
was  aiming  at  making  Africa  a  dependency  of  her  Crown,  she,  on 
several  occasions,  manifested  a  disposition  to  cripple  the  energies  of 
our  colony.     And  so  extensive  were  the  agencies  she  seems  to  have 


i8  Coloinzation  to  Liberia. 

employed,  that  it  is  now  matter  of  wonder  that  she  had  not  succeeded 
in  wholly  crushing  tlie  colonization  enterprise,  and  securing  to  herself 
the  control  of  that  richest  of  all  the  tropical  portions  of  the  world. 
But  all  her  efforts  at  checking  the  progress  of  this  heaven-born  enter- 
prise have  been  as  fruitless  as  those  adopted  by  her  in  reference  to 
the  slave  trade,  or  for  civilizing  Africa.  The  fact  stands  acknow- 
ledged before  the  world,  that  Great  Britain,  after  the  expenditure  of 
more  than  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  has  failed  in  suppressing  the 
slave  trade  on  one  mile  of  coast  beyond  the  limits  of  her  colonies; 
wiiile  our  colonization  efibrts  have  swept  it  from  nearlyybwr  hundred 
miles  of  coast,  where  it  formerly  existed  in  its  chief  strength. 

But  why  is  it  that  there  is  such  a  marked  indifference  in  the  results? 
Why  is  it  that  the  Colonization  Society,  witli  a  yearly  income  some- 
times of  only  $10,000,  and  rarely  ever  reaching  $50,000,  should  have, 
in  twenty -six  years,  annihilated  the  slave  trade  on  400  miles  of  coast, 
and  secured  the  blessings  of  freedom  to  80,000  men,  formerly  slaves, 
and  have  succeeded  in  binding,  by  treaties,  200,000  more,  never  again 
to  engage  in  the  traffic  in  their  brethren, — while  Great  Britain,  with 
all  her  wealth  and  power,  has  accomplished  nothing? 

We  will  not  undertake  to  answer  these  questions.  It  caimot 
always  be  discerned  by  men  why  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe  often 
defeats  the  best  devised  human  schemes,  which  to  them  may  seem 
certain  of  success  ;  and  prospers  those  whicii,  to  human  foresight, 
were  the  least  promising.  We  need  only  remind  you  that  Great 
Britain  has  relied,  almost  exclusively,  upon  the  employment  of 
physical  force  to  accomplish  her  purposes,  while  the  Colonization 
Society  has  depended,  as  exclusively,  upon  moral  means.  The 
agencies  it  has  employed  have  been  the  humble  mechanic,  the  hus- 
bandman, the  school-master,  the  missionary,  and  the  Bible.  And, 
though  often  thwarted  in  its  purposes  by  tliose  who  felt  interested  in 
its  overthrow,  yet,  relying  upon  moral  means,  and  never  resorting  to 
force  but  in  self-defense,  it  has  signally  triumphed  and  put  to  shame 
the  wisdom  of  men  and  the  power  of  kingdoms.  Its  operations  have 
proved  that  the  schoolmaster,  the  missionary,  and  the  Bible,  possess  a 
moral  power  infinitely  more  potent  than  coronets  and  crowns. 

These  results  go  very  far  toward  proving  the  truth  of  the  proposi- 
tion, announced  in  the  outset, — that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  the 
medium  through  which  God  operates  in  bringitig  mankind  into  sub- 
jection to  his  will,  and  that  a  reliance  upon  any  other  means  for  the 
moral  redemption  of  the  nations  of  the  world,  must  prove  an  utier 
failure. 

In  view  of  all  these  results,  we  are  fully  warranted  in  maintaining 
that  the  Colonization  Society,  in  its  measures  for  benefitting  the 
colored  people,  has  done  an  incalculable  amount  of  good,  and  demands 
our  confidence  and  our  support,  and  that  it  is  justly  entided  to  the 
paternity  of  three  measures  which  have  been  productive  of  the  great- 
est good  to  Africa : 

1.  The  procuring  of  the  first  legal  enactments  declaring  the  slave 
trade  piracy. 


Colonization  to  Liberia. 


19 


2.  The  total  extinction  of  that  cruel  traffic  from  near  400  miles  of 
the  coast  of  Africa. 

3.  Tlie  establisiniient  of  an  Independent  Christian  Republic  on 
that  continent. 

Tliere  is  another  feature  of  this  question,  of  the  disposal  of  the 
free  colored  population  of  the  United  States,  which  demands  attention, 
and  is  of  tlie  utmost  importance  in  selecting  for  them  a  home.  77/6 
nortlurn  httiludes  of  the  United  Slat  en  do  not  furnish  a  suit  able 
home  for  men  of  .African  descent.  The  evidence  of  the  truth  of 
this  proposition  is  furnished  by  their  own  movements  when  left  free 
to  act.     The  census  tables  supply  the  testimony  upon  this  subject. 

By  referring-  to  table  111,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  ratio  of  the  natural 
increase  of  the  free  colored  population  is  tiro  per  cent,  per  annum. 
The  knowledge  of  this  fact  furnishes  the  key  to  determine  the  in- 
crease or  decrease,  by  emigration,  in  any  stale  or  group  of  slates. 

IV. 
Free  colored  population  in  Maine,  Neiv  Hampshire,  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and  Vermont. 


YEARS. 

1799. 
13,126 

1800. 

T7,3~n 

1810. 

1820. 

1830. 
217331 

1840. 

Total  number 

19,488 

2 1 ,248 

•22,634 

Actual  increase 

4,191 

2,171 

1,760 

83 

1,303 

Increase  per  cent. 

per  annum 

3.19 

1.25 

0.90 

0.03 

0.61 

Slaves  in  do. 

3,880 

1,340 

418 

145 

48 

23 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  investigation  of  the  question  before  us, 
the  effect  of  climate  upon  the  .flfiican  constitution,  we  find  that 
previous  to  1790,  the  desire  of  the  manumitted  slave  to  escape  from 
the  scenes  of  his  oppressions  had  given  to  the  six  New  England 
states  a  free  colored  population  of  13,i26.  From  1790  to  1800  the 
census  tables  show  that  the  line  of  emigration  was  still  northward, 
and  augmented  their  ratio  of  increase  more  than  one-third  over  the 
natural  rale.  But  during  the  next  forty  years,  ending  with  1840, 
their  ratio  of  increase,  as  shown  in  table  IV,  was  rapidly  din)inished, 
and  fell  so  far  below  the  ratio  of  their  natural  increase,  that  from  1820 
to  1830,  with  a  free  colored  population  of  21,248,  they  had  an  in- 
crease in  these  ten  years  of  only  eighty-three  persons.  The  aggre- 
gate for  the  whole  period  stands  thus:  In  1810  they  had  a  free 
colored  population  of  19,488,  and  in  1840  but  22,634,  being  an  in- 
crease of  only  3,146;  while  their  natural  increase,  if  retained,  would 
have  augmented  their  numbers  to  33,648.  This  diminution  must 
have  been  caused  by  emigration  back  again  toward  the  south, 
because  we  find  tiiat  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  had 
a  corresponding  increase  during  this  period,  with  the  exception  of 
the  last  ten  years,  when  they  also  lost  a  portion  of  their  natural 
increase. 

But  ihis  tendency  ot  colored  men  to  avoid  northern  latitudes  is 
quite  as  fully  proved  by  a  comparison  of  the  northern  parts  of  New 


20  Influence,  of  Climate  on  Colored  Men. 

York,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  with  their  southern  portions,  as  it  is 
exhibited  in  the  case  of  the  New  England  States,  when  compared 
with  those  further  south.  Take,  for  example,  a  few  of  the  counties 
in  the  north-east  of  Ohio,  In  1840,  Geauga  had  only  3  persons  of 
color,  Ashtabula  17,  Lake  21,  Portage  39,  Summit  42,  Medina  13, 
Lorain  62,  Trumbull  70,  and  Cuyahoga,  including  the  city  of  Cleve- 
land, 121,  in  all  388.  Now  look  at  a  few  of  tlie  counties  bordering 
the  slave  states  and  in  the  more  southern  part  of  the  state.  Belmont, 
in  1840,  had  724,  Gallia  799,  Highland  786,  Brown  614,  Ross  1195, 
Franklin  805,  and  Hamilton  2546. 

This  contrast,  which  might  be  extended  much  further,  reveals  the 
fact,  that  any  one  of  the  last  named  counties,  in  the  southern  portion 
of  the  state,  had  nearly  double,  and  several  of  them  7nore  than 
double  the  number  of  colored  persons  that  the  whole  eight  northern 
counties  above  named  included. 

But  to  give  a  more  forcible  illustration  of  the  truth  of  our  proposi- 
tion, allow  me  to  extend  this  ontrast  between  the  northern  and 
southern  counties  of  Ohio,  so  as  to  include  the  whole  free  colored 
population  of  the  state.  By  drawing  a  line  east  and  west  across  the 
state,  so  as  to  divide  its  territory  into  about  equal  parts,  giving  an 
excess  of  counties,  as  now  divided,  to  the  north,  the  result  is,  that  in 
1840,  the  38  northern  counties,  now  divided  into  42,  included  only 
2,360  persons  of  color,  wliile  the  40  counties  of  the  southern  half 
embraced  a  colored  population  of  15,000.  And  if  we  deduct  Stark, 
Columliiana  and  Harrison  on  the  east,  and  Mercer  on  the  west,  from 
the  northern  counties,  they  will  have  left,  in  the  36  remaining  coun- 
ties, a  free  colored  population  of  only  1372,  or  a  litde  more  than  half 
the  number  in  Hamilton  county.  I  append  the  list  of  all  the  coun-" 
ties,  that  it  may  be  accessible  to  those  who  may  wish  to  prosecute 
this  investigation.* 

After  making  all  due  allowance  for  the  alledged  defect  of  energy  in 
the  colored  man,  as  accounting  for  his  not  seeking  a  residence  in  the 
north  ;  and  what  has  still  more  influence  on  his  mind — the  greater 
induliience  which  he  finds  from  the  planter  of  the  south,  now  settled 
in  our  more  southern  counties,  than  he  does  from  the  northern  man 
who  is  a  stranger  to  his  h;ibits, — there  is,  we  affirm,  ample  testimony 
to  prove,  that  the  northern  latitudes  of  the  United  States  do  not  furnish 
a  suitable  climate  for  men  of  African  blood,  and  that  they  are  con- 
gregating as  fjir  south  as  circumstances  wdl  permit.  This  fact,  we 
insist,  proves  conclusively  the  necessity  of  securing  a  tropical  home 
for  colored  men. 

But  in  addition  to  all  the  foregoing  details,  which  prove  the  inadapt- 
ation  of  northern  laUtudes  to  the  African,  we  have,  very  recently,  the 
fact  revealed  to  us  in  a  late  census  of  Upper  Canada,  that  in  that 
province,  where  we  had  been  a  thousand  times  assured  that  from 
20,000  to  25,000  runaway  slaves  from  the  United  States  had  found 
refuge,  there    were,   in   1847,   barely  5,571   colored  persons  in  the 

*See  Note,  page  21. 


Influence  of  Climate  on  Colored  Men. 


21 


colony.  In  this  statement,  however,  which  includes  the  whole 
twenty  districts,  there  may  be  an  error  in  one  of  them  which  may- 
vary  this  result. 

But  1  cannot  dismiss  this  part  of  our  subject  without  a  few  remarks. 
The  citizens  of  our  northern  counties  often  charge  us,  of  the  south- 
ern, with  being  destitute  of  the  ordinary  feelings  of  humanity  and 
benevolence,  because  we  are  disposed  to  discourage  the  further  immi- 
gration of  colored  men  into  tlie  state,  and  because  we  advocate  a 
separation  of  the  races  by  colonization.  And  this  they  do  with  an 
apparent  seriousness  that  warrants  us  in  concluding  that  they  believe 
wiiat  they  say.     Perhaps  if  we  had  only  three  to  a  county,  like  old 

The  following  statement,  referred  to  on  the  previous  page,  gives  the  colored  popu- 
lation of  Ohio  in  the  several  counties,  commencing  at  the  northern  and  southern 
extremities,  as  presented  in  the  census  of  1840. 


Hamilton 2576 

Clermont, 122 

Brown, 614 

Adams, 63 

Scioto, 206 

Lawrence,  •    • 148 

Gallia, 799 

Meigs, 28 

Jackson, •    .    .  315 

Pike, 329 

Highland, 786 

Butler, 251 

Warren 341 

Clinton, 377 

Ross 1195 

Hocking, 46 

Athens, •     .  55 

Washington 269 

Monroe,       13 

Morgan, 68 

Perry,      .  • 47 

Fairfield, 312 

Pickaway, 3-53 

Fayette,' 239 

Greene 344 

Clark, 200 

Montgomery, 376 

Preble, 88 

Darke, 200 

Miami,    .    .    .   • 211 

Shelby, 262 

Logan 407 

Champaign, 328 

Madison, 97 

Franklin, 805 

Licking,       140 

Muskingum, 562 

Guernsey, 190 

Belmont, 742 

Jeficrson 497 


Ashtabula, 17 

Lake, 21 

Geauga, 3 

('uyahoga 121 

Trumbull, 70 

Portage 39 

Summit, 42 

Medina, 13 

Lorain, 62 

Erie, 97 

Huron, 106 

Sandusky, 41 

Ottawa, 5 

Seneca, 66 

Wood, 32 

Lucas 54 

Henry 6 

Williams 2 

Paulding, 0 

Van  Wert, •     .  0 

Mercer, 204 

Allen, 23 

Hancock, 8 

Hardin 4 

Marion 52 

Crawford, 5 

Richland, 65 

Wayne, 41 

Holmes, 3 

Stark, 204 

Carroll 49 

Columbiana, 417 

Harrison,       163 

Tuscarawas 71 

Coshocton, 38 

Knox 63 

Delaware, 76 

Union,       •     .    .  78 

Morrow, 

Mahoning, 

Auglaize, 

Defiance.  • 


32. 


InJJuence  of  Climate  and  Foreign  Emigration. 


Geauga,  we,  too,  might  be  disposed  to  catch  them  for  pet^,  to  amuse 
our  children,  as  we  do  mocking  birds  and  paroquets.  But  with  us 
the  novelty  of  seeing  a  colored  man  has  long  since  passed  away,  and 
we  no  longer  make  pets  of  them,  on  account  of  color,  but  treat  them 
precisely  as  we  do  other  men.  The  upright  and  industrious  we  respect 
and  encourage.  The  immoral  and  degraded  we  wash  anywhere  else 
than  in  our  households  or  as  near  neigjibors. 


Free  colored  population  in  New   York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. 


Total  number 
Actual  increase 
Increase  per  cent 

per  annum 
Slaves  in  do. 


1790 
13^3 


36,484 


1800 

29,340 

15,387 

11.02 
34,471 


1810 
T5T668 
26,328 

8.97 
20.663 


1820 

74,742 
19,074 

3.42 

17,856 


1830 

loljos 

26,321 

3.54 
2,732 


1840 

718^5 

17,822 

1.76 

742 


But  in  addition  to  diniaie,  the  colored  man  has  another  formidable 
adversary  to  contend  with.  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, as  before  slated,  and  as  the  figures  in  table  V  show  us,  had 
accessions  to  dieir  colored  po[)ulation  much  beyond  the  natural  in- 
crease on  their  original  numbers  up  lill  1830.  But  from  1830  to  1840 
these  states  also  commenceii  repelling  their  free  colored  population, 
and  their  ratio  of  increase  was  reduced  considerably  below  two  per 
cent,  per  annum — Pennsylvania,  however,  still  having  a  ratio  of  2  y^j-g, 
showing  that  she  had  not  been  as  mucii  allected  as  the  otlier  two 
states,  though  between  1820  and  1830  her  ratio  had  been  reduced  to 
1  yYu  P<^^"  cent,  per  annum. 

VI. 
Free  colored  population  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  and    flrginia. 

1820    ;    1830  7184^ 


YEARS. 

1790 
24,718 

1800 

47,970 
23,261 

1810 

Total  number 
Actual  increase 

77,633 
29,654 

Increase  per  cent, 

per  annum 
Slaves 

405,350 

9.41 
457,584 

6.1:^ 
508,197 

89,817;116,l4r|l28,781 
12,184!  20,3241    12,640 

1.55|        2.93I        1.08 
537,060  576,0431530,087 


VII. 

Free  colored  population  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 

Georgia. 


YEARS. 

1790 

1800 

1810 

1820 

1830 

1840 

Total  number 

l,il4r 

11,247 

16,621 

23,205 

29,950 

33,761 

Actual  increase 

4,073 

5,374 

6,584 

6,745 

3,811 

Increase  per  cent. 

per  annum 

5.67 

4.77 

3.96 

2.90 

1.27 

Slaves 

• 

236,930 

338,851 

470,407 

013,148 

778,533 

85.3,799 

Lijluence  of  Slavery  and  Foreign  Emigration. 


23 


Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
and  Georgia,  also  repulsed  nearly  one-half  of  their  natural  increase 
between  1830  and  1840,  as  exhibited  in  tables  VI  and  vll,  showing 
that  the  emigration  from  the  norlhern  states  was  not  passing  in  that 
direction. 

VIII. 
Free  colored  popi/lalion  of  Kintiickr/,  Tennessee,  and  ./Alabama. 


YKARS. 

1790 
475 

15,247 

1800 

1810 

1820 

1830 
11,041 
3,691 

7.35 
424,365 

1840 

Total  number 
Actual  increase 
Increase  per  cpnt. 

per  annum 
Slaves 

1,050 
575 

12.10 
53,927 

3,030 
1,980 

18.85 
125,096 

6,353 
3,323 

10.96 
254,278 

14.880 
3,836 

3.47 

618,849 

Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Alabama,  though  for  a  time,  receiving 
larje  accessions  of  free  colored  people  emigrating,  prt)bably,  from 
Virofinia  and  iN'orth  Carolina,  westward  into  their  bounds,  seem  also 
to  have  checked  it,  between  1830  and  1840,  to  a  considera!)le  extent. 
But  as  more  energetic  measures  have  since  been  adopted  to  repel  all 
immigration,  extending  even  to  the  selling  of  the  intruders  into 
slavery,  as  was  the  case  last  year  in  Kentucky  ;  the  census  of  1850 
will  no  doubt  exhibit  a  reduction  of  the  ratio  of  these  states,  also,  to 
the  natural  rate  of  increase,  if  not  below  it. 

Louisiana,  alone,  of  all  the  larger  slave  states,  has  maintained  a 
uniform  increase  of  her  free  colored  population.  Her  position  on 
the  Mississippi  affords  great  facilities  to  enterprising  colored  men, 
wishing  to  escape  from  the  rigors  of  northern  winters,  to  penetrate 
her  territory. 

IX. 
Free  colored  population  of  Louisiana. 


YKARS. 

1790 

1800   j    1810 

1820 

1 0,900 
3,:575 

4.44 
69,061 

1830 

1840 

Total  number 
Actual  increase 
Increase  per  cent. 

per  annum 
Slaves 

7,585 
1  .34,600 

10,710 
5,750 

5.24 

109.588 

25,502 
8,792 

5.26 
108,452 

In  the  slave  states,  the  prejudices  and  the  rigid  laws  in  relation 
to  their  free  coloied  people,  will  account  for  the  losses  which  they 
have  sustained.  But  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  some  other 
cause  must  have  exerted  a  repelling  influence,  or  there  would  not 
have  been  such  a  desertion  of  that  region  by  colored  men.  Tliis 
cause  will,  we  believe,  be  found  to  exist  in  \\\e  foreign  emigration 
into  our  cormtry.  The  foreign  emigrant,  escaping  from  the  tyranny 
of  the  despotisms  which  have  so  long  crushed  his  energies,  and 
where  he  had  been  accustomed  to  work  for  a  mere  subsistence,  is 
overjoyed,  on  reaching  this  country,  to  receive  a  rate  of  wages  fur 
which  the  colored   man   is  unwilling  to  labor.     He  is  thus  the  most 


24 


Influence  of  Slavery  and  Foreign  Emigration. 


formidable  rival  of  tlie  colored  man,  and  supplants  him  in  his  employ- 
ments and  drives  liim  from  his  temporary  home.  But  while  this 
rivalry  of  the  foreigner,  the  prejudice  of  the  slave  holder,  and  the 
influence  of  climate,  seem  to  create  insuperable  obstacles  to  the 
success  of  any  scheme  of  securing  to  colored  men  a  permanent  home 
in  the  north,  it  affords  a  strong  proof  of  the  wisdom  of  the  scheme  of 
African  Colonization,  where  the  rivalry  of  white  men  and  the  influ- 
ence of  climate,  or  the  prejudice  against  color,  can  never  reach  him 
or  interrupt  him  in  his  pursuits. 

But  there  is  still  another  subject  connected  with  the  movements  of 
the  free  colored  people  which  greatly  interests  the  citizens  of  Ohio. 
We  have  seen  that  a  regular  movement  of  the  free  colored  population, 
from  north  to  south,  has  been  in  progress  ever  since  1800,  and  that  it 
was  only  checked,  in  its  southern  course,  by  reaching  the  borders  of 
the  slave  states.  But  after  1830  this  floating  mass  took  a  new  direc- 
tion. As  the  foreign  emigration  first  touches  the  eastern  coast,  its 
effects  are  first  felt  there,  and  from  thence  it  rolls  westward.  While 
the  current  of  tlie  colored  emigration,  therefore,  is  setting  in  from  the 
north,  it  is  met  by  this  opposing  tide  from  the  east,  and  deflected  to 
the  west. 

On  turning  to  the  west,  we  find  that  while  this  continuous  stream 
of  colored  emigration  has  been  pouring  out  of  all  the  states  north-east, 
east,  and  south-east  of  us,  they  have  been  concentrating  with  almost 
equal  rapidity  iu  the  Ohio  valley. 

X. 
Free  colored  population  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois. 


YKARS. 

1790 

1800 

1810 

1820 

1830 

1840 

Total  number 
Actual  increase 
Increase  per  cent, 
per  annum 

500 

2,905 
2,405 

48.10 

6,598 
3,693 

12.71 

14,834 

8,236 

12.48 

28,105 
13,271 

8.94 

Look  at  the  figures  in  table  X.  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  in 
1800,  had  500  free  persons  of  color  in  their  bounds.  In  1840  they 
numbered  28,105.  If  the  influx,  since  1840,  has  been  as  great  as  in 
the  preceding  period,  these  three  states  will  have  a  free  colored  popu- 
lation, at  present,  of  over  50,000,  of  which  the  sliare  of  Ohio  is 
30,000. 

To  afford  a  more  striking  contrast  of  the  position  in  which  we 
stand,  as  compared  with  the  six  New  England  States,  it  is  only 
necessar)?^  to  say,  that  the  ratio  of  the  annual  increase  of  the  free 
colored  population  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  from  1820  to  1830, 
doubled  their  nitmhers  in  eight  yfars,  while  that  of  the  former  six 
states  would  require,  to  double  theirs,  a  period  of  tivo  hundred  and 
fifty  six  years. 

But  to  avoid  a  charge  of  unfairness  in  selecting  a  period  of  only 
ten  years,  and  tliat  the  most  favorable  to  our  purpose,  we  shall  extend 
the  contrast  to  forty  years,  from  1840  back  to  1800,  and  the  result  is 


Fret  Colored  Emigration  into  Ohio.  25 

still  more  startling.  During  this  period  of  forty  years,  the  six  New 
England  States  did  not  increase  their  colored  population  quite  one 
third,  ( it  was  y'^'V  )  while  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  have  doubled 
fifty-five  times  on  their  original  numbers.  Our  increase,  therefore, 
when  compared  with  theirs  for  a  period  of  <brty  years,  stands  as  55 

to  \. 

Here,  now,  is  presented  a  condition  of  things  which  demands  the 
attention  of  the  Legislature  and  the  people  of  Ohio.  We  have,  for 
years,  l)een  disposed  to  evade  the  question  of  the  provision  to  be 
made  for  the  people  of  color.  The  causes  operating  to  concentrate 
them  in  the  Ohio  valley  are  beyond  our  control,  and  they  must  con- 
tinue to  congregate  here.  Nor  can  we  check  this  movement  by  any 
ordinary  precautions,  were  we  disposed  to  make  the  effort,  because 
we  cannot,  by  any  legislation  of  ours,  reach  the  causes  which  compel 
them  to  leave  the  otiier  states.  We  cannot  change  the  climate  of  the 
north-east,  nor  mold  the  African  constitution  so  that  it  may  endure 
the  rigors  of  its  winters  ;  and  much  less  can  we  impart  to  the  colored 
man  a  spirit  of  energy  and  activity  in  business  which  shall  enable 
him  to  compete  with  the  New  Englander.  We  are  still  less  able  to 
roll  back  the  mighty  wave  of  foreign  emigration,  which,  annually, 
supplies  to  the  east  a  surplus  of  cheap  labor,  and  drives  the  man  of 
color  from  his  employments,  and  compels  him  to  wander  to  the  west 
in  search  of  bread.  And  it  is  still  more  impracticable  for  us  to 
induce  the  slave  states  to  repeal  the  laws  and  give  up  the  prejudices 
which  drive  out  the  free  colored  man  from  amongst  them.  The 
colored  people,  if  disposed,  cannot  extend  westward  and  southward. 
Tiie  iron  wall  of  slavery  and  the  prohibitions  in  the  new  constitutions 
of  Illinois  and  Iowa,  will  prevent  emigration  in  that  direction.  They 
are,  therefore,  shut  up,  imprisoned  among  us,  and  instead  of  any 
diminution,  we  must  prepare  for  an  increase  of  their  numbers. 

It  is  a  fact  well  understood,  that  in  the  slave  states,  no  movement, 
involving  emancipation  to  any  great  extent,  can  now  take  place 
except  in  connection  with  the  removal  of  the  freedmen  from 
among  them.  Some  of  them  at  present  talk  of  emancipation  and 
colonization  in  Africa,  but  if  we  should  open  our  doors  as  widely  as 
many  desire,  the  slave  holder  need  not  tax  himself  with  the  expense 
of  the  passage  of  his  slaves  to  Liberia.  It  will  be  cheaper  and  less 
troublesome  to  let  them  alone,  and  they  will  soon  put  themselves 
under  the  care  of  their  loving  brothers  across  the  Ohio  river.  And, 
in  adopting  this  course,  the  slave  holder  may  feel  that  he  is  conferring 
a  favor  upon  us,  because,  on  several  occasions,  where  masters  had 
emancipated  their  slaves,  and  started  them  for  Liberia,  they  have  been 
persuaded  to  escape  to  Ohio  or  Pennsylvania. 

Several  of  the  border  states  will,  before  many  years,  become  free 
states,  because  of  tlie  growing  conviction  among  the  people  that  the 
presence  of  slaves  upon  their  soil  has  created  a  blighting  influence — 
that  it  has  paralyzed  the  physical  and  moral  energies  of  the  white 
youth — that  imlil  the  slaves  are  removed,  the  sons  of  their  yeomanry 
will  not  engage  in  field  labor,  and  that  until  this  revolution  is  effected 


^  Free  Colored  Emigration  into  Ohio. 

the  slave  states  cannot  prosper  as  the  free  states  have  done.  They 
are  further  convinced  that  the  presence  of  colored  people,  as  free 
laborers,  will  exert  equally  as  baneful  an  effect  upon  the  industry  of 
the  whites,  as  the  presence  of  the  slave  has  done.  We  have  failed, 
in  a  twenty  years  war  of  words,  to  change  these  opinions.  They 
know  that  their  sons  scorn  the  itlea  of  laboring  upon  an  equality  with 
men  of  servile  origin.  This  may  all  be  wrong,  but  that  does  not 
alter  the  fact.  The  people  of  the  slave  states  will  never  consent  to 
emancipation,  but  in  connection  with  the  removal  of  the  freedmen. 
This  is  their  fixed  purpose:  and  any  measure  for  the  melioration  of 
the  condition  of  the  colored  man  which  does  not  include  this  fact, 
and  adapt  itself  to  it,  will  be  so  far  defective. 

Now,  it  seems  evident,  that  to  whatever  extent  emancipation  may 
take  place,  whether  by  individuals  or  by  states  ;  and  further,  to  what- 
ever degree  the  slave  states  may  carry  their  hostility  to  the  free 
colored  people  among  them,  and  succeed  in  driving  them  out;  to 
the  same  extent  may  we  expect  to  be  made  the  receivers  of  the  un- 
fortunate wanderers,  unless  we  can  divert  the  current  of  emigration 
in  some  other  direction. 

With  all  tliese  facts  before  us — the  influence  of  climate — the  rival- 
ry of  the  foreign  emigrant — the  prejudices  of  the  slave  holder — the 
adverse  legislation  of  the  slave  states — the  rapid  concentration  of  the 
free  colored  people  along  the  southern  margin  of  the  Ohio  valley — 
and  the  impracticability  of  their  emigrating  further  soutli  or  west — it 
must  be  apparent,  at  once,  that  we  occupy  a  very  different  position 
from  that  of  the  New  England  States  and  the  northern  counties  of 
Ohio.  We  are  constantly  receiving  large  accessions  from  the  slave 
states.  Many  of  our  towns  and  villages  have  had  their  colored 
population  doubled  since  1840,  and  there  is  no  prospect,  at  present, 
of  their  influx  being  checked. 

The  Ohio  Black  Laws,  though  designed,  originally,  to  operate 
as  a  check  upon  colored  immigration,  have  wholly  failed  of  their 
object,  and  have  only  added  another  to  the  numerous  inefficient 
measures  adopted  for  protection  against  the  evils  generated  by  slavery 
— evils  so  numerous  and  complicated,  that,  often  the  remedies  applied 
only  increase  the  malady. 

And  here  we  must  be  allowed  to  remark,  that  few  men  can  excel 
our  northern  friends  in  depicting  the  horrors  of  slavery.  They  have 
studied  it  chiefly  in  that  point  of  view.  Its  degrading  and  brutifying 
tendencies,  generating  vices  the  most  debasing  and  instructive,  have 
been  portrayed,  but  too  truly,  in  our  hearing,  by  them,  a  thousand 
times.  Thev,  of  course,  expect  us  to  believe  their  statements  and  to 
adopt  their  views  of  the  odinusness  of  the  system. 

Now.  in  return,  we  ask  of  them  that  they  shall  believe  us.  And 
if  one  half  they  have  told  us  be  true,  in  relation  to  the  low  state  of 
morals — the  deep  and  damning  depravity  of  the  victims  of  slavery — 
then  visit  us  with  the  plague,  or  any  other  physical  calamity,  rather 
than  bring  this  moral  pestilence  into  contact  with  our  children.  We 
speak  but  the  common  sentiment  of  the  great  mass  of  our  citizens. 


Necessity  of  Colonization.  27 

Tliese  sentiments  are  not  generated  by  hostile  feelings  to  the  colored 
man,  any  more  than  the  missionary,  who  wishes  to  guard  well  the 
virtues  of  his  children  and  impart  to  them  a  nobility  of  thought  and 
sentiment,  should  be  charged  with  hating  tlie  degraded  Hindoo  or 
Hottentot,  for  wliose  intpllectu:il  and  moral  elevation  he  risks  his  life, 
because  he  sends  his  children  back  to  a  Christian  country  to  be  edu- 
cated by  Christian  friends. 

Many  of  t!ie  first  settlers  of  southern  Ohio  had  fled  from  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  and  the  Carolinas,  to  rear  their  families  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  demoralizing  effecls  of  slavery,  and  in  the  enactment  of  the 
Black  iiuws  tliey  hoped  to  erect  an  impassable  barrier  between  them- 
selves and  slavery,  or  any  of  its  fruits. 

It  was  not  prejudice  agninst  color,  alone,  that  dictated  the  passage 
of  the  Black  Laws  of  Ohio,  and  which  has  kept  them  so  long  upon 
our  statute  book,  but  it  was  a  dictate  of  self-preservation.  It  was  a 
determination  to  confine  slavery,  with  all  its  fruits,  within  the  limits 
where  it  existed,  and  to  guard  themselves  and  their  children  against 
moral  contamination  by  contact  with  those  unfortunate  beings  whose 
deplorable  degradation  has  been  so  eloquently,  and  often,  but  too  truly 
delineated  to  us. 

A  repeal  of  the  Black  Laws  may  be  proper;*  some  modification  of 
them,  at  least,  is  demanded.  But  it  forms  no  part  of  the  task  assign- 
ed us  to  express  an  opinion  on  the  subject.  This  much,  however, 
we  can  say,  that  something  more  is  needed  than  the  repeal  of  these 
laws,  before  the  colored  man  can  have  justice  done  him,  or  the  public 
mind  be  satisfied  with  the  posture  of  affairs. 

Nor  can  we  be  persuaded  that  he  who  rarely  ever  sees  a  colored 
person,  and  who  knows  nothing  of  the  unfavorable  circumstances  in 
which  a  majority  of  the  colored  people  are  placed,  where  they  are 
congregated  in  large  numbers,  is  the  proper  man  to  mature  measures 
for  their  relief.  He  has  not  the  opportunity  of  forming  a  practical 
judgment  in  the  case,  and  his  schemes,  therefore,  will  be  more  apt  to 
partake  of  the  vi-^iotmry  than  the  practicable. 

But  we  are  told  that  it  is  our  duty  to  labor  for  the  elevation  and  im- 
provement of  the  colored  man,  and  thus  prepare  him  for  citizenship. 
In  reply,  it  is  only  necessary  to  say,  that  of  the  importance  of  this 
duty  the  friends  of  colonization  are  fully  aware,  and  to  discharge  it  is 
their  direct  and  proposed  aim  ;  but  through  the  unhappy  opposition 
of  their  enemies,  in  this  good  work,  who  have  assumed  to  be  exclu- 
sively the  friends  of  the  man  of  color,  inducing  him  to  believe  tliat 
we  are  his  ^'inveterate  enemies,"  we  have  been,  to  a  great  extent, 
excluded  from  that  access  to  him  requisite  to  the  fulfillment  of  our 
wishes.  The  colored  people,  therefore,  are  not  accessible  to  us,  and 
the  responsibility  of  their  improvement  does  not  rest  npon  us,  but 
upon  diose  who  have  them  in  charge.  And  even  if  they  were  access- 
ible to  us,  and  we  had  tlieir  confidence,  should  the  emigration  from 
the  other  states  continue  to  be  as  rapid   as  heretofore,  the  execution 

*This  lecture  was  written  before  their  repeal  by  the  present  Legislature. 


28  Necessity  of  Colonization. 

of  the  task  of  their  education  would  be  a  burthen  too  heavy  for  Ohio 
to  bear.  But  had  we  the  means,  the  circumstances  of  inequality,  to 
which  reference  has  already  been  made,  and  which  neither  authorita- 
tive legislation  nor  the  resolves  of  voluntary  associations  can  remedy, 
forbid  the  hope  of  giving  that  form  and  measure  of  education  requisite 
to  qualify  any  man  for  the  high  duties  and  enjoyments  of  citizenship. 

What  then  can  we  do?  No  large  body  of  men  will  long  remain 
contented  in  the  bosom  of  any  community  or  nation,  unless  in  the 
enjoyment  of  equal  social  and  political  rigl)ts.  Ignorant,  and  vicious, 
and  lazy  men  are  dangerous  in  any  community;  because,  not  under- 
standing their  true  interests,  and  but  litUe  inclined  to  do  their  duty, 
they  are  easily  turned  into  an  engine  of  evil  to  society.  Our  own 
peace  and  safety,  therefore,  demand  that  we  should  secure  to  our 
colored  people  the  blessings  of  education  and  the  advantages  of 
political  equality. 

But  we  firmly  believe  that  the  first  of  these  objects,  the  education 
of  the  free  colored  people,  can  only  be  accomplished  under  circum- 
stances where  the  colored  man  can,  by  the  labor  of  his  own  hands, 
provide  for  his  own  wants,  while  he  is  prosecuting  his  studies.  And 
we  as  fully  believe,  that  such  a  combination  of  circumstances  as  will 
make  the  thorough  education  of  our  colored  people  practicable,  exists 
only  in  Liberia.  In  that  climate  winter  makes  no  demands,  and  the 
labor  of  one  man  will  easily  support  three.  Schools  are  already  or- 
ganized, and  every  parent  is  required  by  law  to  educate  his  children. 
In  a  climate,  like  ours,  however,  demanding  almost  constant  labor 
during  summer  to  provide  for  winter,  and  where  schools  are  accessi- 
ble to  but  few  of  the  colored  people,  there  is  but  little  to  encourage 
the  hope  that  their  education  can  become  general.  To  this  conclusion 
intelligent  colored  men  themselves  have  arrived,  and  the  erection  of 
the  Colored  Manual  Labor  School,  near  Columbus,  Ohio,  where 
200  acres  of  land  have  been  secured  for  this  object,  and  paid  for, 
chiefly,  by  contributions  from  colored  men — where  education  and  labor 
can  go  hand  in  hand — shows  the  strength  of  the  hold  which  this  convic- 
tion has  upon  their  minds.  But  the  advantages  of  such  an  institution 
cannot  be  enjoyed  by  very  many.  At  most,  only  a  few  hundreds  can  be 
accommodated  at  the  same  time.  Such  an  institution,  tlierefore,  while 
it  may  be  of  immense  advantage  to  a  few,  cannot  be  relied  upon  to 
secure  general  education ;  and  advantageous  as  it  may  be  to  those 
few,  still  it  will  be  very  partial ;  far  from  reaching  that  high  education 
which  gives  character,  and  witliout  which,  for  the  standing  and  hap- 
piness of  the  citizen,  mere  learning  is,  comparatively,  of  little  value. 

We  are  also  as  fully  convinced  that  it  will  be  equally  as  impractica- 
ble, as  their  general  education,  to  secure  to  our  free  colored  people  the 
advantages  of  political  equality  any  where  else  than  in  the  Republic 
of  Liberia,  or  in  a  new  one  of  their  own  creation  upon  that  continent. 

That  the  free  colored  population  of  our  country  can  be  raised  to 
that  degree  of  moral  and  intellectual  elevation  which  they  should 
possess,  without  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  social  and  political  privi- 
leges which  are  the  natural  birthright  of  man,  none  will  pretend  to 


Necessity  of  Colonization.  29 

claim.  These  blessings  must  be  secured  to  them  before  any  material 
advancement  can  be  expected  from  them.  But  the  opposition  to 
granting  them  equal  social  and  political  privileges  in  Ohio  is  a  "fixed 
fact."  It  is  believed  that  no  permanent  good  to  the  colored  man  could 
grow  out  of  such  a  measure.  The  grunting  to  him  the  right  of 
suffrage  has  been  productive  of  no  good  in  the  states  which  have 
conceded  to  him  that  privilege.  Instead  of  increasing  their  free 
colored  population,  since  that  act  of  liberality,  these  states  have  had  a 
regular  diminution  of  it.  The  right  of  suffrage  to  the  colored  man, 
where  the  whites  have  a  large  preponderance  of  numbers,  seems  of 
about  the  same  utility  as  the  tin  rattle,  or  little  doll,  presented  to  the 
discontented  child,  to  amuse  it  and  keep  it  from  crying. 
1.  It  is  the  settled  conviction  of  nearly  all  our  thinking  men,  that 
colored  men,  intellectually,  morally,  or  politically,  can  no  more  flourish 
In  the  midst  of  the  whites,  than  the  tender  sprout  from  the  bursting 
acorn  can  have  a  rapid  advance  to  maturity  beneath  the  shade  of 
the  full-grown  oak;  while  the  light  of  the  sun,  so  essential  to  its 
growth,  penetrates  not  through  the  thick  foliage  to  impart  its  invigora- 
ting influences  to  the  humble  tenant  of  the  soil ;  and  where,  each 
day,  it  is  liable  to  be  crushed  under  the  feet  of  those  who  seek  shelter 
from  the  noon-day  heat  beneath  the  boughs  of  its  lordly  superior. 

This  is  no  overwrought  picture  of  the  condition  of  the  free  colored 
people  among  us.  Those  stimulants  to  mental  and  moral  effort, 
which  beget  such  a  superiority  in  citizens  of  free  governments,  reach 
not  to  the  mind  of  the  colored  man,  to  rouse  him  to  action.  And  so 
fully  convinced  of  this  fact  are  intelligent  colored  men  themselves 
becoming,  that  they  are  beginning  to  act  in  concert  in  reference  to 
securing  the  necessary  territory  to  adopt  a  separate  political  organiza- 
tion. This  affords  jstrong  grounds  for  hoping  that  the  day  of  their 
political  redemption  is  dawning.  Heretofore  they  have  been  deluded 
with  the  hope  that  their  elevation  would  be  effected  among  the 
whites ;  that  hope  is  now  fading  from  their  minds.  The  adoption  of 
measures  to  secure  a  distinct  political  organization  is  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  truth,  that  a  separation  from  the  whites  is  essential  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  colored  man,  and  that  colonization  al  some 
point  offers  to  him  his  only  hope  of  deliverance.  This  is  an  impor- 
tant step  in  die  progress  toward  a  settlement  of  this  vexed  question. 

It  is  true,  that,  at  present,  an  eye  is  turned,  by  many  of  those  who 
are  agitating  this  subject,  toward  a  grant  of  land  from  congress  out 
of  the  territory  acquired  from  Mexico.  As  this  is  the  only  territory 
now  at  the  disposal  of  congress,  and  as  the  question  of  its  future 
ownership  will  be  settled  during  the  next  year,  at  furthest,  there  will 
soon  be  a  decision  of  that  matter.  Out  of  that  territory,  if  any  where 
on  the  continent,  must  the  donation  of  lands  be  made  for  the  future 
African  state.  And  upon  it,  or  to  Liberia,  must  the  wave  of  emi- 
gration roll  when  it  recedes  from  our  borders. 

Here,  then,  we  perceive  that  this  question  is  assuming  a  new  and 
definite  form.     A  separate  political  organization  is  desired  by  many 
of  the  colored  men.     But  they  think  Liberia  is  too  distant,  and  too 
3 


30  Necessity  of  Colonization. 

unhealthy,  and  therefore  wish  a  grant  out  of  New  Mexico  or  Califor- 
nia. There  is,  perhaps,  not  a  man  in  this  audience,  nor  in  the  north, 
wlio  would  object  to  such  a  grant  for  such  a  purpose,  so  far  as  the 
grant  of  Unitecl  States'  property  is  concerned.  Your  speaker,  for  his 
part,  is  willing  to  raise  up  both  hands  and  shout  at  the  topmost  pitch 
of  his  voice,  in  the  ears  of  congress,  to  secure  it,  if  he  thought  it  could 
be  obtained,  and  tliat  it  would,  to  the  occupant,  be  a  peaceful  pos- 
session, and  safe  for  the  country.  But  he  believes  it  is  idle,  il  is 
wicked,  longer  to  keep  the  poor  colored  man  pursuing  phantoms 
which  always  must  elude  his  grasp.  We  say,  frankly,  that  we  have  j 
no  hope  that  such  a  grant  of  territory  can  be  had  from  congress.  ] 
And  even  if  it  could,  dare  we  hope  that  it  would  prove  a  peaceful 
home,  such  as  prudent  Christian  men  would  wish  to  leave  as  a  legacy 
to  their  children  ?  Its  proximity  to  the  slave  states,  it  is  feared,  might 
lead  to  continual  collisions. 

It  is  useless,  however,  to  discuss  this  question,  because,  whenever 
our  intelligent  colored  men  are  put  in  possession  of  the  facts  in  relation 
to  Liberia,  they  must  gready  prefer  it  to  any  point  on  this  continent. 

We  are  aware  that  some  of  the  colored  orators  declaim  loudly 
acainst  any  attempts  to  persuade  the  free  colored  people  to  emigrate 
to  Africa,  while  three  millions  of  their  brethren  remain  behind  in 
slavery-  Now,  it  is  very  natural  that  a  benevolent  heart  should  dic- 
tate such  feelings,  and  we  must  respect  their  motives.  But  we  would 
remind  all  such  objectors  to  emigration  to  Liberia,  that  while  three 
millions  of  their  brethren  are  enchained  here,  there  are,  according  to 
the  best  authorities,  one  hundred  and  ten  milli<ins  in  Africa,  eighty 
millions  of  whom  are  of  their  own  caste,  including,  no  doubt,  their 
own  blood  relations,  wlio  are  mostly  crushed  under  a  system  of 
oppression  and  of  cruelty,  and  reduced  to  a  condition  of  moral  degra-  i 
dation,  compared  with  which,  American  slavery,  with  all  its  woes,  ; 
is  bliss  itself.  These  eighty  millions  of  men  are  nearly  all  destitute 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and,  consequently,  ivilhout  the  elements  nf 
an  intellectual  and  moral  renovation.  The  sale  of  their  brethren 
into  slavery,  excepting  in  a  few  sunny  spots,  illuminated  by  Christian 
colonies,  still  continues  with  all  its  attendant  horrors.  The  slave 
trade,  baffling  the  utmost  exertions  for  its  suppression,  is  still  prose- 
cuted with  unabated  vigor.  '  Its  wretched  victims  are  still  found 
wedged  together  in  the  foul  and  close  recesses  of  the  slave  ships,  with 
scarcely  space  enough  to  each  for  the  heart  to  swell  in  the  agony  of 
its  despair.'  All  hope  that  it  can  be  suppressed  by  operations  on  the 
ocean  are  at  an  end.  It  must  be  assailed  where  it  originated, — on  the 
land.  The  instrumentality  to  be  employed  must  be  that  wfiich  the 
result  of  long  experience  dictates, — the  gospel.  The  agents  to  per- 
form this  great  work  are  as  clearly  designated — colored  Christian 
'  colonists.  This  combined  agency  of  the  gospel  and  colonization  has 
already  begun  to  redress  the  wrongs  of  Africa.  "  It  is  fast  restoring 
a  continent  shrouded  in  the  darkness  of  accumulated  centuries,  to  ihe 
lights  of  civilization  and  Christianity.  It  is  opening  up  to  that 
deiJ^raded  and   impoverished  people,  new  sources  of  prosperity  and 


Practicability  of  Colonization. 


sri 


new  fields  of  enterprise  in  the  boundless  resources  of  that  great  con- 
tinent.' The  agencies  so  successfully  begun  by  tlie  colonization 
scheme,  need  only  to  be  sufficiently  augmented  to  secure  the  regen- 
eration of  Africa. 

Then,  with  such  ample  provision  made  for  the  free  colored  man, 
and  Willi  such  a  field  of  future  greatness  and  of  glory  opening  up 
before  liim,  wliy  should  he  not  be  encouraged,  and  why  not  aided, 
to  enter  upon  his  rich  inheritance,  instead  of  begging  for  a  home  on 
this  continent,  where,  at  best,  his  future  prospects  would  be  overcast 
with  gloom.  Does  the  man  of  color  wish  to  speak  to  the  southern 
slave-holder  in  tones  that  can  be  heard  and  will  be  respected?  instead 
of  relying  upon  the  feeble  cry  of  three  and  a  half  millions  in  this 
country,  Africa  has  eighty  millions  of  voices  which  he  may  control, 
and  whose  united  shout  for  freedom  to  the  slave,  would  shake  the 
fetters  from  his  limbs  and  give  him  liberty 

IV.  The  practicability  of  colonizing  the  free  people  of  color. 

The  best  mode  of  discussing  the  practicability  of  any  scheme,  is, 
first  to  ascertain  what  is  to  be  accomplished.  The  following  list  of 
the  twenty-four  principal  states,  and  the  number  of  free  colored  peo- 
ple in  each,  in  1840,  presents  the  amount  of  persons  to  be  provided 
for,  and  the  manner  of  their  distribution  throughout  the  union. 


Maine, 

1,3S5 

Pennsjlvania, 

47,854 

Tennessee, 

5,524 

N.  Hampshire, 

537 

Ohio, 

17,342 

N.  Carolina, 

22,732 

Massachusetts, 

8,669 

Indiana, 

7,165 

S.  Carolina, 

8,276 

Rhode  Island, 

3,238 

Illinois, 

3,598 

Georgia, 

2,753 

Connecticut, 

8,105 

Delaware, 

16,919 

Mississippi, 

1,366 

Vermont, 

730 

Marj-land, 

62,020 

Missouri, 

1,574 

New  York, 

50,027 

Virginia, 

49,842 

Alabama, 

2,039 

New  Jersey, 

21,044 

Kentucky, 

7,317 

Louisiana, 

25,502 

It  will  be  seen,  under  our  first  head,  that  the  number  of  human 
beings  torn  from  Africa,  on  American  account  alone,  in  1847,  all  of 
whom,  perhaps,  were  for  the  Brazilian  market,  amounted  to  84,356. 
Now,  we  would  ask  whether  this  fact  does  not  furnish  a  useful  lesson 
upon  the  subject  of  the  practicability  of  colonization  from  the 
United  States  to  ^9frica. 

The  total  annual  increase  of  the  whole  colored  population  of  the 
United  States,  slave  and  free,  from  1830  to  1840,  was  54,356,  or, 
30,000  less  than  the  exports  of  slaves,  in  1847,  from  Africa  for  the 
American  market. 

The  whole  number  of  the  free  colored  population  of  the  United 
States,  in  1840,  was  386,235,  or  only  a  little  over  four  and  a  half 
times  greater  than  one  year's  importation  from  Africa, 

The  total  increase  of  the  free  colored  population  of  the  United 
States,  from  1830  to  1840,  was  6,664,  annually,  making  the  number 
torn  from  Africa,  in  one  year,  more  tlian  twelve  and  a  half  times  as 
great  as  the  whole  annual  increase  of  the  free  colored  population  of 
the  United  Stales. 

The  total  free  colored  population  of  Ohio,  is,  at  present,  about 


2Z  Practicabihty  of  Colonizalion. 

30,000,  and  that  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  20,000.  The  other  states  will 
have  but  a  small  advance  on  their  free  colored  population  of  1840. 
The  exports  of  slaves  from  Africa,  in  one  year,  are,  therefore,  nearly 
three  times  greater  than  tlie  whole  number  of  free  colored  people  at 
present  in  Ohio  ;  more  than  four  times  that  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  ; 
nearly  four  times  that  of  the  six  New  England  states  in  1840  ;  nearly 
double  that  of  Pennsylvania ;  thirteen  thousand  more  than  that  of 
New  York  and  New  Jersey ;  four  thousand  more  than  Delaware 
and  Maryland ;  nearly  double  that  of  Virginia ;  nearly  seventeen 
thousand  more  than  double  that  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
and  Georgia ;  nearly  six  times  tliat  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
Alabama;  and  nearly  four  times  that  of  Louisiana. 

If,  therefore,  a  set  of  desperadoes,  not  so  numerous  but  that  they 
have  eluded  detection  and  capture,  can,  in  one  year,  accomplish  all 
that  is  here  enumerated,  what  could  not  the  united  efforts  of  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  states  accomplish,  without  oppressive  taxa- 
tion, were  they  simultaneously  to  commence  the  work  of  colonizing 
the  free  colored  people  ? 

Suppose  each  of  the  states  in  the  foregoing  list,  were,  as  a  prepar- 
atory measure,  to  appropriate  to  the  colonization  society,  one  dollar 
for  each  colored  person  in  their  bounds,  the  sura  of  $375,528  would 
be  raised,  being  about  one  half  the  whole  sum  expended  by  the 
society  since  its  origin.  Now,  there  is  scarcely  one  of  the  states 
named,  which  could  not  give  an  annual  appropriation  of  the  sum 
stated,  without  the  tax  being  felt  by  its  people. 

The  sum  required  by  this  scheme,  to  be  expended  by  Ohio,  would 
be  only  one  cent  and  a  half  hx  each  of  the  two  millions  of  her  present 
population.  To  pay  the  expenses  of  the  transportation  of  her  whole 
30,000  free  colored  people,  at  $50  each, — the  sum  for  which  the 
colonization  society  agrees  to  take  out  emigrants — would  cost  but 
seventy-five  cents  for  each  person.  But  suppose  Ohio  coidd  prevent 
all  further  immigration  into  the  state,  and  would  agree  to  send  out  the 
natural  increase  only,  which,  at  two  per  cent,  on  30,000,  would  be 
600,  the  tax  would  be  but  one  cent  and  a  half  to  each  citizen  of  the 
State. 

Then,  who  will  say  that  it  will  not  be  practicable  to  raise  this  sum 
in  Ohio,  on  condition  that  six  hundred  persons  of  color,  annually, 
would  volunteer  to  emigrate  ?  And  which  of  the  other  states  would 
decline  entering  into  a  measure  of  such  easy  accomplishment  ?  We 
trust  not  one. 

As  it  may  amuse  the  curious,  and  furnish  a  rule  to  determine  the 
quota  of  each  state  for  paying  the  cost  of  emigration  of  its  natural 
increase,  we  would  here  state,  that  one  dollar  per  iiead,  for  the  whole 
free  colored  populaUon,  is  exactly  fifty  dollars  a  head  for  the  natural 
increase, — the  ratio  of  increase  being  two  per  cent.  One  dollar  a 
head,  for  each  free  colored  person  in  a  state,  will,  therefore,  transfer 
its  natural  increase  to  Africa,  and  put  them  in  possession  of  a  home- 
stead upon  which  to  make  a  living. 

I  shall  not,  here,  refer  to  the  probabilities  of  the  free  colored  people 


Itifluence  of  Colonization  on  Missionary  Efforts.  33 

being  willing  to  accept  the  offered  boon  of  a  home  in  Liberia,  but 
leave  it  to  another  branch  of  our  subject. 

V.  The  influence  of  Colonization  upon  the  native  Africans,  and 
upon  Missionary  elforts  in  Africa. 

On  these  points  we  sliall  study  great  brevity.  The  influence  of 
colonization  upon  the  native  Africans  has  been,  in  all  respects,  bene- 
ficial. It  is  only  necessary  to  state,  tiiat  in  purcliasing  the  lands 
from  the  native  kings  and  head  men,  and  thus  securing  the  right  of 
sovereignty  over  the  soil,  the  inhabitants  are  at  once  secured  in  the 
protection  of  the  laws  of  the  Liberian  government,  and  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  its  advantages.  Those  held  in  slavery,  and  they  constitute 
about  eight-tenths  of  the  population,  are  at  once  emancipated.  The 
same  care  is  taken  in  promoting  tlieir  education  that  is  observed  in 
the  instruction  of  emigrants  from  the  United  States.  When  suffi- 
ciently advanced  in  intelligence,  they  are  admitted  to  the  rights  of 
citizenship.  In  this  way,  75,000  of  the  natives  have  been  emanci- 
pated from  slavery,  and  secured  in  all  the  rights  of  freemen.  By 
treaties  with  surrounding  tribes,  200,000  more  are  bound  not  to 
engage  in  the  slave  trade,  nor  to  go  to  war  amongst  themselves. 
These  treaties  secure  to  the  respective  tribes  embraced,  the  protection 
of  the  Republic  against  all  other  hostile  tribes.  A  breach  of  the 
conditions  of  these  treaties,  on  the  part  of  any  tribe,  forfeits  the  pro- 
tection of  the  colony.  Thus,  for  ten  years  pasrt,  the  colony  has 
preserved  peace  amongst  many  petty  tribes  whose  trade  formerly 
was  war.  Colonization,  therefore,  in  many  respects,  has  done  great 
good  to  Africa.  And,  in  addition  to  all  this,  we  may  add,  that  such 
is  the  favorable  impression  which  our  colonies  are  beifinning  to  send 
abroad  among  the  native  tribes,  that,  recently,  six  kings  have  com- 
bined and  annexed  their  territories,  including  one  hundred  miles  of 
coast,  to  the  Maryland  colony.  This  statement  we  have  met  with, 
as  coming  from  liev.  Mr.  Pinney,  for  a  time  the  governor  of  Liberia. 
The  motive  prompting  these  kings  to  annex,  is,  that  they  may  enjoy 
the  protection  of  the  colony. 

The  History  of  Missionary  efforts  in  Western  Africa,  fully  sus- 
tains the  truthfulness  of  the  pictures  which  have  been  drawn  of  the 
fatality  of  the  climate  to  the  white  man,  and  of  the  dreadful  moral 
darkness  which  overspreads  the  land.* 

Catholic  missionaries  labored  for  two  hundred  and  forty-one  years, 
but  every  vestige  of  their  influence  has  been  gone  for  many  genera- 
tions. The  Moravians,  beginning  in  1736,  toiled  for  thirty-four 
year<,  making  five  attempts,  at  a  cost  of  eleven  lives,  and  effected 
nothing.  An  English  attempt,  at  Bulama  Island,  in  1792,  partly 
missionary  in  its  ciiaracter,  was  abandoned  in  two  years,  with  a  loss 
of  one  hundred  lives.  A  mission  sent  to  the  Foulahs,  from  England, 
in   1795,  returned  without  commencing  its   labors.     The   London, 

•  We  have  drawn  our  facts  mostly  from  Mr.  Tracy's  history  of  Colonization  and 
Missions. 


34  Influence  of  Colonization  on  Missionary  Efforts. 

Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  society,  commenced  three  stations  in  1797, 
which  were  extinct  in  three  years,  and  five  of  the  six  missionaries 
dead.  The  Church  missionary  society  sent  out  its  first  missionaries 
in  1804,  but  it  was  four  years  before  they  could  find  a  place  out  of 
the  colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  where  they  could  commence  their 
labors.  They  established  and  attempted  to  maintain  ten  stations. 
But  the  hostility  of  the  natives,  who  preferred  the  slave  traders  to 
them,  drove  the  missionaries  from  nine  of  them,  and  forced  them  to 
take  refuge  in  Sierra  Leone,  the  only  place  where  they  could  labor 
with  safely  and  with  hope.  The  tenth  station  at  Goree,  was  also 
abandoned  and  given  up  to  the  French. 

"Here,  then,  widiout  counting  Sierra  Leone  and  Goree,  are  eigh-  I 
teen  Protestant  missionary  attempts,  before  the  settlement  of  Liberia, 
all  of  which  failed  from  the  influence  of  climate,  and  the  hostility  of 
the  natives,  generated  by  the  opposition  of  the  slave  traders."  And, 
since  the  setdement  of  Liberia,  until  1845,  when  these  investiga- 
tions were  completed,  all  attempts  to  sustain  missions  beyond  the 
influence  of  the  Colony  have  also  failed. 

"  But  while  we  mourn  over  these  failures  in  attempts  to  do  good  to 
Africa,  it  is  a  source  of  the  most  profound  gratitude  to  have  the  facts 
placed  authentically  before  the  world,  that  every  attempt  at  coloniz- 
ing Africa  with  colored  persons,  and  every  missionary  effort  con- 
nected with  the  Colonies,  either  of  England  or  America,  have  been 
successful." 

Tiiese  facts  prove,  conclusively,  that  while  other  lands  may  be 
approached  and  blessed  by  other  methods,  the  only  hope  for  Africa 
appears  to  be  in  Colonization  by  persons  of  color.  This  is  the  only 
star  of  promise  wiiicli  kindles  its  light  on  her  dark  horizon.  It  is 
the  only  apparent  means  of  her  salvation. 

"After  the  presentation  of  such  an  array  of  facts,  extending  over  a 
period  of  four  centuries,  may  we  not  claim  that  the  question  is 
decided — that  the  facts  of  the  case  preclude  all  possibility  of  reason- 
able doubt — that  the  combined  action  of  Colonization  and  missions 
is  proved  to  be  an  effectual  means,  and  is  the  only  known  means,  , 
of  converting  and  civilizing  Africa."  1 

And  who  that  believes  this,  will  not  give  heart  and  hand  to  the 
work,  and  labor,  through  good  report  and  through  ill,  for  the  con- 
centration of  all  the  talent  and  piety,  belonging  to  the  colored  people, 
upon  that  coast?  Who  that  truly  desires  the  redemption  of  the 
African  race  from  their  degradation  of  accumulated  centuries,  but 
would  rejoice  to  see  iiundreds  anil  thousands,  and  tens  of  thousands, 
of  the  virtuous  and  intelligent  of  our  colored  population,  like  so  many 
angels  of  mercy,  flocking  to  Africa,  and  employed  in  that  labor  of 
love  which  must  be  performed  before  Ethiopia  can  stretch  out  her  | 
hands  to  God?  ' 

After  what  has  been  said,  in  relation  to  the  low  state  of  morals 
amongst  the  slaves,  and   the  now  accessions  of  colored   emigrants    , 
wiiich  we  are  likely  to  receive  from  the  slave  states,  it  is  proper,  in    j 
this  place,  that  we  should  present  some  explanation.     Our  observa-    ' 


lififluence  of  Colonization   on   Missionary  Efforts.  35 

tions,  it  will  be  noticed,  were  based  upon  tlie  representations  made 
by  our  northern  friends  on  the  degrading  and  brutiiying  tendencies 
of  slavery,  and  were  ofl'ered,  partly,  as  a  retort  upon  them  for  wish- 
ing to  overstock  us  with  sucli  a  population  as  they  must  necessarily 
believe  will  emanate  from  the  midst  of  slaveiy,  while  they  tliem- 
selves  scarcely  touch  the  burthen  with  the  tip  of  the  finger.  Our 
views,  however,  differ  materially  from  theirs,  in  relation  to  the 
moral  condition  of  the  slaves. 

While  we  believe  that  slavery,  like  despotism  in  any  other  form, 
in  itself  considered,  contains  no  one  principle  which  tends  to  elevate 
and  improve  the  intellect  and  tiie  heart,  yet  we  know  that  there  are 
accidents  connected  with  it,  in  this  country,  as  there  have  been  with 
despotism  in  Europe,  which  afford  to  its  victims  the  means  of 
improvement.  We  believe  that  the  Providence  of  God  never  places 
men,  towards  whom  he  has  designs  of  mercy,  in  circumstances 
wiiere  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  not  adapted  to  Uieir  condition.  That 
gospel,  we  know,  has  spoken  peace  to  tiiousands  of  poor  slaves, 
and  whispered  to  their  desponding  hearts  the  hope  of  freedom  in 
heaven.  It  is  undeniable,  that  an  immense  degree  of  intellectual  and 
moral  advancement,  beyond  that  of  the  native  of  Africa,  has  been  made 
by  the  slaves  of  the  United  States,  under  all  the  disadvantages  to 
which  they  have  been  subjected.  It  is  true,  that  thousands  of 
masters  are  laboring  with  much  success  for  the  moral  and  religious 
improvement  of  their  slaves.  It  is  well  known,  that  the  moral 
character  and  religious  principle  of  many  a  slave  will  compare  with 
and  excel  that  of  many  of  the  whites,  even  in  the  north.  It  is 
certain,  that  the  voluntary  emancipations  which  occur,  are  by  this 
class  of  masters  and  from  this  class  of  slaves.  And  it  is  a  fact,  that 
the  greater  number  of  the  newly  emancipated  slaves,  who  come  to 
the  free  states,  have  more  or  less  acquaintance  with  their  social, 
moral,  and  religious  duties,  and  are  more  or  less  disposed  to  make 
further  efforts  for  their  own  advancement.  And  knowing  and  be- 
lieving all  this,  we  are  prepared  to  take  them  by  the  liand  and  to 
encourage  them  to  the  full  extent  of  the  numbers  that  we  are  able  to 
receive.  We  are  also  prepared  to  cooperate  with,  and  do  aid  them, 
in  their  efforts  at  education.  In  the  village  in  which  your  speaker 
resides,  a  Presbytery  of  the  church  with  which  he  is  connected, 
pays,  regularly,  from  a  donation  by  a  deceased  member,  the  half  of 
the  salarv  of  a  teacher  for  a  colored  school.  From  observation 
there,  and  elsewhere,  we  have  learned  that  though  but  a  small  portion 
of  the  parents  have  a  right  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  educa- 
tion and  of  the  arduousness  of  the  task  of  acquiring  knowledge,  yet, 
upon  the  whole,  they  manifest  fidly  as  much  interest  in  the  work 
as  the  same  number  of  whites  would  do,  who  possess  no  higher  a 
standard  of  intellectual  attainment. 

Were  it  in  our  power,  therefore,  to  increase  the  facilities  for  their 
education  a  thousand  fold,  we  would  do  it  at  once.  Because  we 
feel  it  to  be  an  imperative  duty  resting  on  the  white  men  of 
the   United    Slates,   allowing   of  no    halfway   measures    or   efforts, 


36  Relations  of  England  to  Liberia. 

to  labor  for  the  redemption  of  Africa,   and   to  repair  the   wrongs 
that  have  been  done  her. 

But  to  execute  this  task,  we  must  call  to  our  aid  men  of  African 
blood.  We  should  have  one  teacher  or  missionary  for  every  1000 
inhabitants.  To  supply  the  whole  80,000,000  of  people  of  color  in 
Africa,  with  teachers  and  missionaries,  will,  therefore,  require  an 
educated  army  of  80,000  colored  men,  who  must  be  supplied  from 
the  United  States  and  from  Liberia.  While,  then,  we  struggle  to 
elevate  and  improve  the  colored  man  in  the  United  States,  we  point 
him  to  Africa  as  the  field  of  usefulness  in  which  we  wish  to  see 
him  labor. 

VI.  The  certainty  of  success  of  the  Colonization  scheme,  and 
of  the  perpetuity  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia. 

In  the  facts  which  have  been  already  presented,  in  the  course  of 
our  investigations,  many  reasons  will  be  found  to  encourage  our 
hopes  that  the  colonization  scheme  must  continue  to  prosper,  and 
that  the  experiment  of  an  African  Republic  must  succeed.  We  shall 
now  proceed  to  offer  additional  facts  and  considerations  of  much  more 
weight  and  importance  on  this  point,  than  any  which  we  have,  yet, 
produced.  The  first  and  more  important  is  based  upon  the  com- 
mercial advantages,  in  Africa,  which  Liberia  is  beginning  to  unfold 
to  civilized  nations.  But  as  time  will  not  allow  us  to  enter  upon  an 
extended  investigation  of  the  peculiar  advantages  which  each  nation 
will  derive  from  the  civilization  of  Africa,  we  shall  confine  ourselves 
to  those  of  England,  because  she  is  more  vitally  interested  in  the 
success  of  Liberia  than  all  the  others.  Wiien  the  facts  in  her  case 
are  known,  it  will  be  easy  to  make  the  application  to  other  nations. 
It  will  be  seen,  in  the  course  of  these  investigations,  that  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  England  to  aid  the  Republic  of  Liberia  in 
extending  its  influence  with  all  possible  rapidity  over  the  continent 
of  Africa.  The  reasons  upon  which  we  base  this  opinion  are  briefly 
as  follows : 

Next  to  the  necessity  under  which  the  government  of  Great 
Britain  is  laid  to  create  new  markets  for  her  manufactures,  comes 
the  vast  importance  which  she  attaches  to  having  the  control  of 
tropical  possessions  and  tropical  productions.  Their  importance  to 
her  heretofore,  in  contributing  to  give  to  her  the  ascendency  which  she 
acquired  amongst  nations,  was  thus  strongly  staled  by  McQueen,  in 
1844,  when  this  highly  intelligent  Englishman  was  urging  upon  his 
government  the  great  necessity  which  existed  for  securing  to  itself 
the  control  of  the  labor  and  the  products  of  tropical  Africa. 

"  During  the  fearful  struggle  of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  for  her 
existence  as  a  nation,  against  the  power  and  resources  of  Europe, 
directed  by  the  most  intelligent  but  remorseless  military  ambition 
against  her,  the  command  of  the  productions  of  the  torrid  zone,  and 
the  advantageous  commerce  which  that  afforded,  gave  to  Great 
Britain  the  power  and  the  resources  which  enabled  her  to  meet,  to 
combat,  and  to  overcome,  her  numerous  and  reckless  enemies   in 


Relations  of  England  to  Liberia. 


37 


every  battle-field,  whether  by  sea  or  by  land,  throughout  the  world. 
In  her  the  world  saw  realized  the  fabled  giant  of  antiquity.  With 
her  hundred  hands  she  grasped  her  foes  in  every  region  under 
heaven,  and  crushed  them  with  resistless  energy." 

If  the  possession  and  control  of  tropical  products  gave  to  Eng- 
land such  immense  resources,  and  secured  to  her  such  superiority 
and  such  power,  then,  to  be  deprived  of  these  resources  would  of 
course  exert  a  corresponding  opposite  effect,  and  she  would  not 
yield  them  to  another  but  in  a  death-struggle  for  tlieir  maintainance. 
Now,  we  expect  to  prove  that  this  struggle  has  commenced  and 
progressed  to  a  point  of  the  utmost  interest,  both  to  England  and  to 
the  cause  of  humanity;  and  that  the  present  moment  finds  Great 
Britain  in  a  position  so  disadvantageous,  arising  from  the  progress  of 
other  nations  in  tropical  cultivation,  that  one  principal  means  of  her 
extrication  is  in  the  success  of  Liberia. 

Mr.  McQueen,  in  proceeding  further  with  his  investigations, 
reveals  to  us  the  true  position  of  England  by  the  following  startling 
announcement: 

"  The  increased  cultivation  and  prosperity  of  foreign  tropical  pos- 
sessions is  become  so  great,  and  is  advancing  so  rapidly  the  power 
and  resources  of  other  nations,  that  these  are  embarrassing  this 
country  (England,)  in  all  her  commercial  relations,  in  her  pecuniary 
resources,  and  in  all  her  political  relations  and  negotiations." 

The  peculiar  force  of  these  remarks,  and  the  cause  for  alarm 
which  existed,  will  be  belter  understood  by  an  examination  of  the 
figures  in  the  following  table.  They  contrast  the  condition  of  Great 
Britain  as  compared  witli  only  a  few  other  countries,  in  the  produc- 
tion of  three  articles,  alone,  of  tropical  produce. 

Sugar— 1842. 
British  possessions. 
West  Indies,         cwts.  2,508,552 


East  Indies, 
Mauritius,  (1841] 


940,452 
544,767 


Total     3,993,771 


Foreign  countries. 


Cuba, 
Brazil, 
Java, 
Louisiana, 


West  Indies, 
East  Indies, 


Coffee— 1842 
lbs.    9,186,555  [  Java, 
»      18,206,448  ' 


Total     27,393,003 


Brazils, 

Cuba, 

Venezuela, 


cwts.  5,800,000 
"  2,400,000 
"  1,105,757 
"      1,400,000 

Total     10,705,757 


lbs.  134,842,715 
"  135,000,800 
"  33,589,325 
«       34,000,000 

Total     337,432,840 


West  Indies,         lbs. 
East  Indies,  " 

To  China, from  do." 
Total 


CoTTOx— 1840. 
427,529 
77,015,917 
60,000,000 


137,443,446 


United  States,     lbs.  790,479,275 
Java,  "      165,504,800 

Brazil,  "       25,222,828 

Total     981,206,903 


38  Relations  of  England  to    Liberia. 

But  that  this  exhibit  may  convey  its  full  force  to  the  mind,  it 
must  be  observed,  that  nearly  three-fourths  of  tliis  slave-grown  prO' 
duce,  has  been  created,  says  McQueen,  within  thirty  years  prece- 
ding the  date   of   his  writing.  (1844.) 

It  will  be  noticed,  also,  tiiat  the  whole  of  these  products,  with  the 
exception  of  those  of  Java  and  Venezuela,  are  tlie  produce  of  slave 
labor ;  and  it  must  be  remembered,  also,  that  the  perpetuation  and 
increase  of  this  labor  is,  in  a  great  degree,  except  in  Louisiana, 
depen.ling  upon  the  slave  trade  for  its  continuance.  It  is  easy, 
then,  to  perceive,  from  the  foregoing  facts,  that  the  slave  trade  lias 
been  very  sensibly  and  very  seriously  aflecting  the  interests  of  the 
British  government — that  it  has  been  an  engine  in  die  hands  of  other 
nations,  by  which  they  have  thrown  England  into  the  ba<;k  ground 
in  the  production  of  those  articles  of  which  she  formerly  had  tlie 
monopoly,  and  which  Iiad  given  to  her  such  power — and  that  Great 
Britain  must  cither  crush  the  slave  trade,  or  it  will  continue  to 
paralyze  her. 

Here  is  tiie  true  secret  of  her  movements  in  reference  to  tlie  slave 
trade  and  slavery.  Public  sentiment,  under  the  control  of  Chris- 
tian principle,  compelled  her  in  1808,  to  a  first  step  in  this  great 
work  of  pliilantliropy  ;  and  this  step,  once  taken,  there  could  be  no 
retreat.  But  this  first  step,  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  in  her 
colonics,  gave  to  Spain  and  Portugal  all  the  advantages  of  tliat 
traffic,  and  tlie  cheaper  and  more  abundant  labor,  thus  secured,  gave 
a  powerful  stimulus  to  the  production  of  tropical  commodities  in 
their  colonies  of  Cuba  and  Brazil,  and  soon  enabled  them  to  rival, 
and  greatly  surpass  England,  in  the  amount  of  her  exports  of  these 
articles. 

But  the  investigations  which  had  led  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
enormiiies  of  the  slave  trade,  necessarily  exhibited  the  evils  of 
slavery  itself.  Public  opinion  decreed  the  annihilation  of  both,  and 
the  British  government  had  no  other  alternative  but  to  comply.  The 
means  to  which  she  resorted  for  the  supprei^sion  of  the  slave  trade, 
and  their  failure  hitherto,  have  been  already  noticed.  The  measures 
adopted  for  the  emancipation  of  her  West  India  slaves,  have  resulted 
still  more  unfavorably  to  her  interests  than  those  for  the  extinction 
of  the  slave  trade. 

It  was  considered  absolutely  necessary  to  the  prosperity  of  Eng- 
land, that  she  should  regain  the  advantageous  position  which  she 
had  occupied  in  being  the  chief  producer  of  tropical  commodities. 
But  to  effect  this,  it  was  necessary  that  she  should  be  able  to  double 
the  exports  from  her  own  Islands,  and  greatly  diminish  those  of  her 
rivals.  This  could  be  accomplished,  only,  by  an  increase  of 
laborers  from  abroad,  or  by  stimulating  those  on  the  Islands  to 
double  activity  in  their  work.  An  increase  of  laborers  from  abroad 
could  only  be  secured  by  a  resort  to  the  slave  trade,  which  was 
impcjssible ;  or  to  voluntary  emigration  from  otiier  countries  to  the 
Islands,  which  was  improbable.  The  only  remaining  alternative 
was    to  render  the  labor  already  in  the  Islands  more   productive. 


Relations  of  England  to  Liberia. 


39 


This  could  not  be  done  by  the  whip,  as  it  had  already  expended  its 
force,  and  could  not  afford  the  relief  demanded.  Tliis  position  of 
affairs  made  the  government  willing  to  listen  to  the  appeals  of  the 
friends  of  West  India  emancipation.  They  had  long  argued  that 
free  labor  was  cheaper  than  slave  labor — /hat  one  freonan,  under 
the  stimulus  of  wages,  would  do  twice  the  work  of  a  slave  com- 
pelled to  industry  by  the  whip — that  the  government,  by  immediate 
emancipation,  could  demonstrate  the  truth  of  this  proposition,  and 
thus  furnish  a  powerful  argument  against  slavery — that  the  world 
should  be  convinced  tliat  llie  employment  of  slave  labor  is  a  great 
economic  error — and  that  this  truth,  once  believed,  the  abolition  of 
slavery  would  every  where  take  place,  and  the  demand  for  slaves 
being  thus  destroyed,  the  slave  trade  must  cease.  Parliament,  yield- 
ing to  these  arguments,  passed  her  West  India  Emancipation  act, 
1833,  with  certain  restrictions,  by  which  the  liberated  slaves  were  to 
be  held  by  their  old  masters  as  apprentices,  partly  until  Aug.  1, 
1838,  and  partly  until  Aug.  1,  1840.  This  apprenticeship  system, 
however,  being  productive  of  greater  cruellies  than  even  slavery,  the 
Legislative  councils  of  the  Islands,  coerced  by  j)ublic  sentiment  in 
England,  were  forced  to  precipitate  the  final  emancipation  of  the 
slaves,  and  on  Aug.  1,  1838,  they  were  declared  free.  This  act  at 
once  brought  on  the  crisis  in  the  experiment.  The  results  are 
stated  in  the  following  official  table,  taken  from  the  Westminster 
Review,  1844. 


Exported  from 


Si.  Vincent, 

Trinidad, 

Jamaica, 

Total  W.  Indies, 


Average  ol 

183 1-2-3. 

3  yrs.  of  Slavery. 


23,400.000  lbs. 

18,923  tons. 

86,080  hhd. 

3,841,153  cwt. 


Average  of 
18:<.5-ti-7. 
3 yrs.  of  Apprent'ship. 


22,.=)0l),000  lbs. 

18,2o.5tons. 

62,960  bhd. 

3,477,.=i92  cwt. 


Average  of 

1839-10-41. 

3  yrs.  of  Freedom. 


14,100  000  lbs. 

14,828  tons. 

34,4 15  hhd. 

2,39fi.784c\vt. 


This  immense  and  unexpected  reduction  of  West  India  products 
under  the  system  of  freedom,  was  cause  of  great  alarm.  The 
experiment  which  was  to  prove  the  superiority  of /rfc  labor  over 
that  of  slave  labor  had  failed.  The  hope  of  d"it'din<(  the  exports  by 
that  means  was  blasted.  $500,000,000"  of  British  capital,  invested 
in  the  Islands,  says  McQueen,  was  on  the  brink  of  destruction  for 
want  of  laborers  to  make  it  available.  The  English  government 
found  her  commerce  greatly  lessened,  and  her  home  supply  of  tro- 
pical products  falling  below  the  actual  wants  of  her  own  people. 
This  diminution  rendered  her  unable  to  furnish  any  surplus  lor  the 
markets  of  those  of  her  colonies  and  other  countries  which  she 
formerly  supplied.  These  results  «/  once  ex!  ended  I  he  market  for 
slave  srown  products,  and  gave  a  new  impulse  lo  ti.e  slave  trade. 

The  jrovernment  and  its  advisers  now  found  themselves  in  the 
mortifying  position  of  having  blundered  miserably  in  their  emancipa- 
tion scheme,  and  of  having  landed  themselves  in  a  dilemma  of  singu- 


*    We  reckon  the  pound  sterling,  here  and  elsewhere,  for  convenience,  at  five 
dollars. 


40  Relations  of  England  to  Liberia. 

lar  perplexity.  Had  England  induced,  or  compelled  Portugal,  Spain, 
and  Brazil, — the  latter  then  no  longer  a  colony  but  an  independent 
nation, — to  fulfill  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  declaring  the  slave  trade 
piracy,  and  also  to  abolish  slavery,  she  might  have  succeeded  in  her 
object.  But  she  did  not  await  the  accomplishment  of  this  work 
before  she  declared  the  freedom  of  her  own  slaves.  This  act 
resulted  so  favorably  to  the  interests  of  those  countries  employing 
slave  labor,  by  enlarging  the  markets  for  slave  grown  products,  that 
the  difficulty  of  inducing  them  to  cease  from  it,  was  increased  a 
hundred  fold.  Nor  did  the  expedients  to  which  she  resorted  prove 
successful  in  extricating  her  from  the  difficulties  in  which  she  was 
involved.  A  duty  of  near  39  shillings,  afterwards  raised  to  41 
shillings  the  cwt.,  or  41  pence  the  pound,  levied  on  slave  grown 
sugar — designed  to  prohibit  its  importation  into  England  and  secure 
the  monopoly  to  the  West  India  planter,  thereby  enabling  him  to 
pay  higher  wages  for  labor — while  it  failed  to  stimulate  the  activities 
of  the  freedmen  sufficiently  to  increase  the  exports  to  their  former 
amount — resulted  only  in  taxing  the  English  people,  by  the  increase 
of  prices  consequent  upon  a  diminution  of  the  supply,  in  a  single 
year,  says  Porter  in  his  Progress  of  Nations,  to  the  enormous  amount 
of  $25,000,000  more  than  the  inhabitants  of  other  countries  paid  for 
the  same  quantity  of  sugar.  This  enormous  tax  accrued  during 
1840,  from  die  protective  duty,  but  was  greatly  above  that  of  any 
other  year  during  its  continuance.  The  whole  amount  of  the  bounty 
to  the  planter,  thus  drawn  from  the  pockets  of  the  English  people 
and  placed  in  tliose  of  the  West  India  negro  laborers  m  excest^ive 
high  wages,  in  the  course  of  six  or  seven  years,  says  McQueen, 
1844,  amounted  to  $50,000,000. 

The  crisis  had  become  so  imminent,  that  energetic  measures  were 
immediately  adopted  to  guard  against  the  impending  danger.  Eng- 
land must  either  regain  her  advantages  in  tropical  countries  and 
tropical  products,  or  she  must  be  shorn  of  a  part  of  her  power  and 
greatness.  This  truth  was  so  fully  impressed  upon  the  minds  of 
her  intelligent  statesmen,  that  one  of  the  best  informed  on  this  sub- 
ject, (McQueen,)  declared,  that 

"  If  the  foreign  slave  trade  be  not  extinguished,  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  tropical  territories  of  other  powers  opposed  and  checked 
by  British  tropical  cultivation,  then  the  interests  and  the  power  of 
such  states  will  rise  into  a  preponderance  over  those  of  Great 
Britain;  and  the  power  and  the  influence  of  the  latter  will  cease  to 
be  felt,  feared  and  respected,  amongst  the  civilized  and  powerful 
nations  of  the  world." 

To  relieve  the  English  people  from  the  onerous  tax  of  the  sugar 
duties,  and  at  the  same  time,  in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  public 
opinion,  to  continue  the  exclusion  of  slave  grown  products  from  the 
English  markets,  sugar,  the  product  of  free  labor,  it  was  decided, 
should  be  admitted  at  a  duty  of  10  shillings  the  cwt.  But  it  was 
soon  discerned,  that  this  policy  would  only  create  a  circuitous 
commerce,  by  which  the   slave  grown   sugar  of  Cuba  and  Brazil 


Relations  of  England  to  Liberia.  4 1 

would  be  taken  by  Holland  and  Spain,  for  their  own  consumption, 
and  that  of  Java  and  Manilla  sent  to  England  ;  thus  creating  a  more 
extensive  demand  for  slave  grown  products  and  consequently  for 
slave  labor,  and  giving  to  the  duve  trade  an  additional  impulae  in 
an  increased  demand  for  slaves. 

The  necessity  for  this  continuous  supply  of  slave  laborers  from 
Africa,  for  the  planters  of  Cuba  and  Brazil,  will  be  better  understood, 
when  the  nature  of  West  India  and  Brazilian  slavery  is  made 
known.  When  England  prohibited  the  slave  trade  in  180G,  the 
number  of  slaves  in  her  colonies  was  800,000.  In  twenty-three 
years  afterwards,  or  near  the  time  she  emancipated  them,  they 
numbered  but  700,000.  The  decrease  in  this  period  was,  therefore, 
100,000;  (Memoirs  of  Buxton). 

The  United  States,  in  1800,  had  a  slave  population  of  893,000. 
In  1830  she  numbered  2,009,000,  being  an  increase  of  1,116,000. 
Thus,  in  thirty  years,  the  United  Slates  had  an  increase  of  one 
million  one  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand  on  a  population  of 
893,000;  while  the  West  Indies,  under  the  English  system  of 
slavery,  with  a  slave  population  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the  United 
States,  in  a  period  only  six  years  less,  suffered  an  actual  decrease 
of  one  hundred  thousand. 

The  destruction  of  human  life  in  the  slavery  of  Cuba  and  Brazil 
will,  doubdess,  be  equal  to  what  it  was  formerly  in  the  West  Indies, 
inasmuch  as  the  same  causes  prevail — the  great  disparity  of  the 
sexes  amongst  those  brought  by  slave  traders,  from  Africa,  for  the 
planters.  In  the  slave  population  of  Cuba  this  dispropordon,  says 
McQueen,  is  150,000  females  to  275,000  males.  It  is  estimated, 
that  to  keep  up  the  slave  population  of  Cuba  and  Brazil,  will  require, 
yearly,  130,000  people  from  Africa.  It  is,  then,  at  once  apparent, 
that  Cuba  and  Brazil  arc  dependent,  as  we  have  said,  tipon  the 
slave  trade  for  keeping  up  the  supply  of  their  laborers;  and,  that, 
if  this  annual  importation  of  slaves  should  be  stopped,  then,  their 
foreign  exports  would  be  proportionally  lessened  and  their  growing 
prosperity  checked. 

Under  these  circumstances,  there  could  be  no  doubt,  that  if  Eng- 
land could  suppress  the  slave  trade,  she  would  at  once  cut  off  the 
supply  of  laborers  furnished  by  that  traffic  to  Cuba  and  Brazil,  and 
«'  check  "  their  ability  to  rival  her  as  proelucers  of  tropical  com- 
modities; and,  further,  if  she  could  increase  the  number  of  laborers 
in  the  West  Inelies  sufficiently,  she  could  restore  those  Islands  to 
their  former  productiveness,  and  recover  her  former  advantages. 
She,  therefore,  renewed  her  efforts  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave 
trade,  with  gready  increased  activity.  She  also  commenced  the 
transfer  oi  free  hiborers  from  the  East  Indies  and  from  Africa  to  the 
West  Indies.  Every  slave  trading  vessel  captured,  was  made  to 
yield  up  its  burden  of  human  beings  to  the  West  India  planters, 
instead  of  to  those  of  Cuba  and  Brazil ;  thus  securing  to  the 
former  all  the  advantages  of  laborers  which  had  been  designed  for 
the  latter.     This  arrangement  was  adopted   in  1842,  and  the  only 


43  Relations  of  England  to  Liberia, 

exception  to  it  was  in  relation  to  Spanish  slavers,  which  were  to  be 
given  up,  with  their  cargoes  of  slaves,  to  the  authorities  of  Cuba. 
A  premium  was  paid  to  her  naval  officers  and  seamen  for  all  the 
slaves  thus  captured  and  transported  to  her  West  India'  Colonies. 
The  expenditure  for  this  object,  in  1844,  says  McQueen,  had 
amounted  to  $4,700,000. 

In  this  movement  an  intelligent  colored  man,  Mr.  William 
Brown,  of  Oxford,  Ohio,  has  remarked,  that  England  seems  to  have 
copied  the  example  of  the  eagle,  which  disdains  to  soil  his  own 
plumage  by  a  plunge  in  the  water,  but,  as  he  must  have  the  fish  or 
die,  makes  no  scruple  of  robbing  the  more  daring  fish-hawk  of  its 
prey  and  appropriating  the  captive  fish  to  his  own  use,  instead  of 
restoring  it  to  its  native  element. 

All  these  efforts,  however,  failed  in  relieving  England  from  her 
difficulties.  The  slave  trade  continued  to  increase,  and  the  slave 
grown  productions  to  multiply.  The  number  o^  free  laborers  trans- 
ported as  emigrants  from  Africa  and  the  East  Indies,  or  captured 
from  the  slave  traders,  and  landed  in  the  Islands,  were  so  few, 
comparatively,  as  to  make  no  sensible  difference  in  the  amount  of 
West  India  productions,  and  the  scheme,  though  still  continued,  has 
failed  of  its  main  object — the  increase  of  BHtish  JVest  India  pro- 
ductions. Some  other  means  of  replacing  England  in  her  former 
position,  must,  therefore,  be  devised. 

But  let  us  look  a  moment,  before  we  proceed,  at  the  West  Indies, 
and  learn  more  fully,  the  extent  and  nature  of  the  influences  which 
have  gone  forth  upon  the  world  as  the  result  of  West  India  Eman- 
cipation and  British  policy  and  philanthropy. 

It  seems  to  have  been  a  great  error  of  judgment  in  the  British 
philanthropists,  who  urged  West  India  Emancipation  upon  the 
ground  that  free  labor  would  be  more  productive  than  slave  labor, 
— that  a  freeman,  under  the  stimulus  of  ivages,  would  do  twice  the 
labor  of  a  slave  toiling  beneath  the  lash:  because  this  proposition  is 
true  only  in  reference  to  men  of  intelligence  and  forethought,  but  is 
untrue  when  applied  to  an  ignorant  and  degraded  class  of  men. 
The  ox  under  the  yoke,  or  the  mule  in  the  harness,  when  spurred 
on  by  the  goad  or  the  whip,  will  do  more  labor  than  when  turned 
out  to  shift  for  themselves.  So  it  will  be  with  any  barbarous  people, 
or  with  the  mass  of  such  a  slave  population  as  the  West  Indies  then 
included ;  where  but  little  more  care  had  been  taken  of  the  greater 
portion  of  tliem  than  if  they  had  been  mere  brute  beasts,  and  not  moral 
ao-ents.  If  any  higher  estimate  had  been  put  upon  them,  than  as  mere 
machines  to  be  used  in  the  production  of  tropical  commodities,  then 
it  had  been  impossible  for  their  numbers  to  have  been  reduced  one 
hundred  thousand  in  so  short  a  period  as  before  stated. 

The  first  impulse  of  the  heart  of  tlie  more  intelligent  slaves,  when 
they  awoke  to  a  consciousness  of  freedom,  would  prompt  them  to 
withdraw  their  wives,  daughters,  and  younger  children,  from  the 
sugar  plantations,  that  the  mothers  might  attend  to  their  household 
duties,  and  the  cliildren  be  sent  to  school.     This  would  deprive  the 


Relations  of  England  to  Liberia.  43 

planters  of  much  of  the  labor  upon  which  they  had  depended.  The 
men,  too,  would  many  of  them  prefer  mechanical  pursuits,  or  confine 
themselves  to  the  cultivation  of  small  portions  of  land,  and  decline 
laboring  for  their  old  masters,  in  whose  presence  they  must  still 
have  fflt  a  sense  of  inferiority.  Many,  from  sheer  indolence  and 
recklessness  of  consequences,  would  only  labor  when  necessity  com- 
pelled them  to  seek  a  supply  of  their  wants.  The  marriages  taking 
place  would  witlidraw  still  more  of  the  laborers  from  the  fields,  and 
reduce  the  amount  of  the  products  of  the  Islands. 

Wbile,  therefore,  the  case,  comfort,  and  welfare,  of  the  colored 
man  was  secured,  the  interests  of  the  planters  were  almost  ruined  by 
emancipation,  and  the  influence  and  power  of  England  put  in 
jeopardy.  Little  did  tlie  700,000  West  India  freedmen,  who 
refused  to  labor  regularly  for  the  planters,  think,  when  following 
their  own  inclinations,  or  lounging  at  their  ease  under  the  shade  trees 
of  these  sunny  Islands,  that  their  want  of  industry,  their  reluctance 
to  go  back  to  die  sugar  mills,  for  the  wages  offered,  was  crippling 
the  power  of  one  of  the  greatest  empires  on  earth,  and  robbing  Africa 
of  400,000  of  her  children,  annually,  to  supply  to  the  world,  from 
Cuba  and  Brazil,  those  very  commodities  which  they  were  refusing 
to  produce.  Yet  such  was  the  fact,  and  such  the  mysterious  links 
connecting  man  willi  his  fellow,  that  the  want  of  ambition  in  the 
West  India  freedman  to  earn  more  than  a  subsistence,  depriving  the 
planters  of  the  necessaiy  free  labor  to  keep  up  the  usual  amount  of 
exports,  created  a  corresponding  demand  for  slave  grown  products, 
and  robbed  Africa,  in  each  two  years  thereafter,  of  a  number  of  men 
more  than  equal  to  the  ivhole  of  the  slaves  emancipated  in  the 
British  Islands. 

There  would  seem,  then,  to  have  been  but  litde  gain  to  the  cause 
of  humanity  by  West  India  Emancipation.  This  view  of  its  remits, 
however,  would  he  very  erroneous.  On  the  contrary,  there  is 
exhibited  here,  in  .this  result,  another  mysterious  link  in  the  chain  of 
events  connected  with  the  redemption  of  Africa.  The  faUure  of  the 
West  India  experiment,  has  been  a  failure,  only,  of  jEngland's  ex- 
periment adopted  to  restore  herself  to  her  former  position  and  her 
former  advantages,  and  will  not  retard  die  onward  progress  of  the 
cause  of  humanity.  It  has,  on  the  contrary,  no  doubt  gready  tended 
to  precipitate  upon  the  world  the  solution  of  a  problem  of  the  first 
importance  in  the  great  work  of  its  recovery  from  barbarism.  It 
must  now  be  admitted  that  mere  personal  liberty,  even  connected 
with  the  stimulus  of  high  tvages,  is  insufficient  to  secure  the  indus- 
try of  an  ignorant  population.  It  is  Intelligence,  alone,  that  can  be 
acted  upon  by  such  motives.  Intelligence  must  precede  voluntary 
Industry.  This  proposition,  we  claim,  has  been  fairly  proved  in 
the  West  India  experiment.  And,  hereafter,  diat  man  or  nation, 
may  find  it  difficult  to  command  respect  or  succeed  in  being  esteemed 
wise,  who  will  not,  along  with  exertions  to  extend  personal  freedom 
to  men,  inUmately  blend  with  their  efforts  adequate  means  for 
intellectual    and    moral    improvement.      The   West   India   colored 


44  Relations  of  England  to  Liberia. 

population,  now  released  from  the  restraints  of  slavery,  and  accessible 
to  the  missionaries  and  teachers,  sent  to  them  from  English  Chris- 
tians, are  rising  in  intelligence  and  respectability ;  and,  tims,  West 
India  emancipation  has  been  productive  of  infinite  advantage  to  ihem, 
though  English  capitalists  may  have  been  ruined  by  the  act.  But 
w^e  will  go  further,  and  give  it  as  our  deliberate  opinion,  that  as  soon 
as  intelligence  and  morality,  growing  out  of  the  religious  training 
now  enjoyed,  shall  sufficiently  prevail,  the  amount  of  products  raised 
in  the  West  Indies  will  greatly  exceed  that  yielded  under  the  system 
of  slavery.  Liberty  and  Religion  can  make  its  inhabitants  as  pros- 
perous and  happy  as  those  of  any  other  spot  on  earth.  We  do  not 
say,  however,  that  this  can  take  place  while  they  sustain  the  posi- 
tion of  vassals  of  the  British  crown,  and  their  importance  in  the  scale 
of  being  continues  to  be  estimated  according  to  the  extent  to  which 
they  can  add  to  its  prosperity  and  its  glory. 

Had  the  West  India  colored  men,  under  the  stimulus  of  freedom 
and  high  wages,  each  performed  twice  the  labor  of  a  slave,  as  they, 
no  doubt,  might  liave  done,  and  as  was  confidently  anticipated  by  the 
enthusiastic  friends  of  emancipation,  more  than  twice  the  products 
of  former  years  would  have  been  exported  from  the  Islands,  and 
England,  in  that  event,  restored  to  her  former  position,  and  looking 
only  to  self  aggrandizement,  would  have  remained  content,  and  con- 
tinued to  employ  men  as  mere  machines,  as  she  heretofore  had  done, 
nor  cared  for  their  intellectual  and  moral  elevation.  But  the  failure 
of  England  in  the  West  Indies,  forced  her  to  renewed  efforts  for  the 
acquisition  of  additional  tropical  possessions,  where,  with  better 
prospects  of  success,  she  could  bring  free  labor  into  competition 
with  slave  labor. 

Before  tracing  the  movements  of  Great  Britain,  however,  in  her 
prosecution  of  this  enterprise,  let  us  again  look  a  moment  at  her 
position.  "  Instead  of  supplying  her  own  wants  with  tropical  pro- 
ductions, and  next  nearly  all  Europe,  as  she  formerly  did,  she  had 
scarcely  enough,  says  McQueen,  1844,  of  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant articles,  for  her  own  consumption,  while  her  colonies  were 
mostly  supplied  with  foreign  slave  produce."  "  In  the  mean  time 
tropical  productions  had  been  increased  from  $75,000,000  to  $300,- 
000,000  annually.  The  English  capital  invested  in  tropical  pro- 
ductions in  the  East  and  West  Indies,  had  been,  by  emancipation  in 
the  latter,  reduced  from  $750,000,000  to  $650,000,000  ;  while,  since 
1808,  on  the  part  of  foreign  nations  $4,000,000,000  of  fixed  capital 
had  been  created  in  slaves  and  in  cultivation  wholly  dependent  upon 
the  labor  of  slaves."  'The  odds,  therefore,  in  agricultural  and  com- 
mercial capital  and  interest,  and  consequently  in  political  power  and 
influence,  arrayed  against  the  British  tropical  possessions,  were  very 
fearful — six  to  one.' 

This,  then,  was  the  position  of  England  from  1840  to  1844,  and 
these  the  forces  marshalled  against  her,  and  which  she  must  meet  and 
combat.  In  all  her  movements  hitherto,  she  had  only  added  to  the 
strength  of  her  rivals.     Her  first  step,  the  suppression  of  the  slave 


Relations  of  England  to  Liberia.  ti^ 

trade,  had  diminished  her  West  India  hiborers  100,000  in  twenty- 
tlirco  years,  and  reduced  her  moans  of  production  to  that  extent, 
giving  all  the  benefits,  arising  from  this  and  fmm  the  slave  trade,  to 
rival  nations,  who  have  but  too  well  improved  their  advantnges.  But, 
besides  lier  commercial  sacrifices,  she  had  expended  $100,000,000 
to  remunerate  the  planters  for  the  slaves  emancipated,  and  another 
$100,000,000  for  an  armed  repression  of  the  slave  trade.  And  yet, 
in  all  this  enormous  expenditure,  resulting  only  in  loss  to  England, 
Africa  had  received  no  advantage  whatever,  but,  on  the  contrary,  she 
had  been  robbed,  since  1808,  of  at  least,  3,500,000  slaves,  (McQueen) 
who  had  been  exported  to  Cuba  and  Brazil  from  her  coast,  making 
a  total  loss  to  Africa,  by  the  rule  of  Buxton,  of  11,060,000  human 
beings,  or  one  million  more  than  tlie  whole  white  population  of  the 
United  States  in  1830,  and  more  than  three  times  the  number  of  our 
present  slave  population. 

Now,  it  was  abundantly  evident,  that  Great  Britain  was  impelled 
by  an  overpowering  necessity,  by  (he  instinct  o[  self-preservation,  to 
attempt  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade.  It  was  true,  no  doubt, 
that  considerations  of  justice  and  humanity  were  among  the  motives 
which  intiuenced  her  actions.  Interest  and  duty  were,  therefore, 
combined  to  stimulate  her  to  exertion.  The  measures  to  be  adopted 
to  secure  success,  were  also  becoming  more  apparent.  Few  other 
nations  are  guided  by  statesmen  more  quick  to  perceive  the  best 
course  to  adopt  in  an  emergency,  and  none  more  readily  abandon  a 
scheme  as  soon  as  it  proves  impracticable.  Great  Britain  stood 
pledged  to  her  own  citizens  and  to  the  world  for  the  suppression  of 
the  slave  trade.  Slie  stood  equally  pledged  to  demonstrate,  that  free 
labor  can  be  made  more  productive  than  slave  labor,  even  in  the 
cultivation  of  tropical  commodities.  These  pledges  she  could  not 
deviate  from  nor  revoke.  Her  interests  as  well  as  her  honor  were 
deeply  involved  in  their  fulfillment.  But  she  could  only  demonstrate 
the  greater  productiveness  of  free  labor  over  slave  labor,  by  opposing 
the  one  to  the  other,  in  their  practical  operations  on  a  scale  coexten- 
sive with  each  other.  She  must  produce  tropical  commodities  so 
cheaply  and  so  abundantly,  by  free  labor,  that  she  could  undersell 
slave-grown  products  to  such  an  extent,  and  glut  tlie  markets  of  the 
world  with  them  so  fully,  as  to  render  it  unprofitable  any  longer  to 
employ  slaves  in  tropical  cultivation.  Such  an  enterprise,  success- 
fully carried  out,  would  be  a  death  blow  to  slavery  and  the  slave 
trade.  "  But,"  says  McQueen,  "  there  remained  no  portion  of  the 
tropical  world,  where  labor  could  be  had  on  the  spot,  and  whereon 
Great  Britain  could  conveniently  antl  safely  plant  her  foot,  in  order  to 
accomplish  this  desirable  object — extensive  tropical  cultivation — hut 
in  tropical  Africa.  Every  other  part  was  occupied  by  independent 
nations,  or  by  people  that  might  and  would  soon  become  independent." 
Africa,  therefore,  was  the  field  upon  which  Great  Britain  was  compelled 
to  enter  and  to  make  her  second  grand  experiment.  Her  citizens 
were  becoming  convinced  that  it  was  unwise,  if  not  unjust,  to  abstract 
laborers,  even  as  free  emigrants,  from  Africa,  to  be  employed  in  other 
4 


46  Relations  of  England  to  Liberia. 

parts  of  the  world,  i/jhrn  their  labor  might  be  employed  to  much 
better  a  (vantage  in  Africa  itself.  The  government  could,  therefore, 
safely  resort  to  some  modification  of  her  former  policy.  To  confine 
her  efforts  for  the  recovery  of  her  prosperity,  within  the  limits  of  her 
own  tropical  possessions,  would  be  to  abandon  the  vast  regions  of 
tropical  .Africa  to  other  nations,  and  thus  permit  them,  by  taking 
possession  of  it,  to  redouble  the  advantages  over  her  which  they 
already  possessed.  By  employing  the  labor  o/"  Africa  ivithin  Africa, 
she  would  cut  off  the  supply  of  laborers  derived  by  other  nations 
from  the  slave  trade,  and  would  have  an  advantage  over  them,  not 
only  of  the  capital  expended  in  the  transportation  of  slaves  from 
Africa,  but  she  would  have  a  gain  of  seven-tenths  in  the  saving  of 
human  life  now  destroyed  by  the  slave  trade.  British  capital, 
instead  of  being  directly  and  indirectly  employed  in  the  slave  trade, 
as  has  been  fully  shown  liy  the  Hon.  H.  A.  Wise,  late  American 
minister  to  Brazil,  could  be  more  honorably  and  safely  invested  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  richer  fields  of  tropical  Africa  itself. 

In  her  West  India  experiment,  however,  England  had  been  taught 
the  all-important  lesson,  that  intelligence  must  precede  voluntary 
industry.  Her  Niger  expedition  of  1842,  already  noticed,  was 
based  upon  this  principle,  and  hence  the  extensive  preparations 
connected  witli  that  movement,  for  the  improvement  of  the  intelligence 
and  morals  and  industry  of  the  natives.  But  the  terrible  mortality 
which  destroyed  that  enterprise  taught  her  another  lesson,  that  ivhite 
mm  carnxot  fulfill  the  agency  of  Africa's  iutellectucd  elevation. 
Since  that  period,  England  has  been  mostly  occupied  with  the  settle- 
ment of  her  difficulties  with  Cliina,  and  her  war  with  the  Sikhs  of 
India,  and  she  has  made  but  little  progress  in  her  African  affairs  ; 
excepting  by  explorations  into  the  interior  and  negociations  with  the 
powers  interested  in  the  slave  trade. 

In  the  meantime  tiie  colony  of  Liberia  had  been  pursuing  its  quiet 
and  unostentatious  course,  and  working  out  the  problem  of  the  colored 
man's  capability  for  self-government.  The  active  industry  of  that 
handful  of  men,  had  created  a  commerce  of  much  importance,  and 
supplied  exports  to  the  value  of  $100,000  annually.  lis  declaration 
of  independence  was  published  to  the  world  at  a  period  the  most 
auspicious.  France,  under  those  generous  impulses  so  characteristic 
of  her  people,  had  herself  trampled  the  last  relics  of  despotism  in  the 
dust,  and  declared  the  Republic.  Great  as  she  herself  is,  she  did  not 
despise  the  litde  African  republic,  but,  extending  her  view  down  the 
stream  of  time,  discerned  in  it  the  germ  of  future  empire  and  greatness, 
and  therefore,  she  welcomed  it  into  the  family  of  nations.  But  lest, 
in  its  feebleness,  it  should  receive  a  wound  to  its  honor,  or  an  injury 
to  its  commerce,  from  an  attack  of  the  dealers  in  human  flesh  infesting 
its  borders,  with  distinguished  liberality  she  offered  the  use  of  her 
war  vessels  for  their  destruction. 

England,  too,  found  herself  in  a  position  inclining  her  to  favor  the 
young  republic;  nay,  not  only  inclining  but  imposing  upon  her  the 
necessity  of  promoting  its  welfare.     Impelled  by  her  own  interests 


Relations  of  England  to  Liberia.  4i 

and  wants,  to  secure  extensive  tropical  cultivation,  by  free  labor,  in 
^ydca,  she  had  been  surveying  the  whole  vast  field  of  that  continent, 
the  only  country  now  remaining  where  her  grand  experiment  could 
be  commenced,  and  found  much  of  it  already  occupied.  France,  fully 
alive  to  the  importance  of  the  commerce  with  Africa,  had,  witliin  a 
short  period,  securely  placed  herself  at  the  mouth  of  the  Senegal  and 
at  Goree,  extending  her  influence  eastward  and  southeastward  from 
both  places.  She  had  a  setdemcnt  at  Albreda,  on  the  Gambia,  a  short 
distance  above  St.  Mary's,  and  which  commands  that  river.  Slie  had 
formed  a  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gaboon,  and  another  near 
the  chief  mouth  of  the  Niger.  She  had  fixed  herself  at  Massuah 
and  Bure,  on  the  west  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  commanding  the  ir.lols 
into  Abvssinia.  She  had  endeavored  to  fix  her  flag  at  Brava  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Jub,  and  had  taken  permanent  possession  of  the  im- 
portant island  of  Johanna,  situated  in  the  center  of  the  northern  outlet 
of  the  Mozambique  channel,  by  which  she  acquired  its  command. 
Her  active  agents  were  placed  in  southern  Abyssinia,  and  employed 
in  traversing  the  borders  of  the  Great  White  Nile;  while  Algiers  on 
the  northern  shores  of  Africa,  must  speedily  be  her  own.  Spain  had 
planted  herself,  since  the  Niger  expedition,  in  the  island  of  Fernando 
Po,  which  commands  all  the  outlets  of  the  Niger  and  the  rivers,  from 
Cameroons  to  the  equator.  Portugal  witnessing  these  movements, 
had  taken  measures  to  revive  her  once  fine  and  still  important  colon- 
ies in  tropical  Africa.  They  included  17°  of  latitude  on  the  east 
coast,  from  the  tropic  of  Capricorn  to  Zanzibar,  and  nearly  19°  on  the 
west  coast,  from  the  20th°  south  latitude,  northward  to  cape  Lopez. 
The  Imaum  of  Muscat  claimed  the  sovereignty  on  the  east  coast,  from 
Zanzibar  to  Babelmandel,  widi  the  exception  of  the  station  of  the 
French  at  Biava.  From  the  Senegal  northward  to  Algeria  was  in  the 
possession  of  the  independent  Moorish  princes.  Tunis,  Tripoli,  and 
Egypt  were  north  of  the  tropic  of  Cancer,  and  independent  tributaries 
of^Turkey. 

Here,  then,  all  the  eastern  and  northern  coasts  of  Africa,  and  also 
the  west  coast  from  the  Gambia  north waids,  was  found  to  be  in  the 
actual  possession  of  independent  sovereignties,  who,  of  course, 
would  not  yield  the  right  to  England.  Southern  Africa,  below  the 
tropic  of  Capricorn,  already  belonging  to  England,  though  only  the 
same  distance  south  of  the  equator  that  Cuba  and  Florida  are  north 
of  it,  is  hiffhly  elevated  above  the  sea-level,  and  not  adapted  to  tropical 
productions.  The  claims  of  Portugal  on  the  west  coast,  before 
noticed,  extending  from  near  the  British  south  African  line  to  Cape 
Lopez,  excluded  England  from  that  district.  From  Cape  Lopez 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Niger,  including  the  Gaboon  and  Fernando 
Po,  as  before  stated,  was  under  the  control  of  the  French  and 
Spanish. 

The  only  territory,  therefore,  not  claimed  by  civilized  countries, 
which  could  be  made  available  to  England  for  her  great  scheme  of 
tropical  cultivation,  was  that  between  the  Niger  and  Liberia,  embra- 
cing nearly  fourteen  degrees  of  longitude.     But  this  territory  includes 


48  Relations  of  England  to  Liberia. 

the  powerful  kingdom  of  Dahomey  and  that  of  Ashantee,  whose 
right  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  soil  could  not,  probably,  be  purchased, 
as  was  that  of  the  former  petty  kings  on  the  line  of  coast  occupied 
by  Liberia.  Their  territory,  however,  and  that  of  Liberia,  together 
with  the  whole  of  the  vast  basin  of  the  Niger,  under  the  hand  of 
industry  could  be  made  to  teem  with  those  productions,  the  command 
of  which  were  of  such  essential  importance  to  England.  But  both 
Dahomey  and  Ashantee  were  engaged  in  the  slave  trade,  and,  like 
other  parts  of  the  continent,  nine-tenths  of  the  population  held  as 
slaves. — ( Dr.  Goheen.)  This  territory,  therefore,  could  not  be 
made  available  to  England  until  she  could  succeed  in  securing  the 
discontinuance  of  their  connection  with  the  slave  trade  and  the  abolition 
of  their  system  of  slavery;  and  not  even  then,  as  we  have  before  proved, 
until  intelligence  should  be  introduced  and  diffused  and  mf/ws^rJ/ begot- 
ten— a  work  of  generations.  But  negotiations  in  relation  to  these  ob- 
jects had  been  commenced,  says  M'Queen,  in  1844,  under  favorable 
auspices,  and  tlie  king  of  Dahomey  had  agreed  to  abolish  the  slave 
trade,  and  had  favorably  received  some  Wesleyan  missionaries. 
England  has,  since  that  period,  successfully  exerted  her  influence  in 
otlier  quarters  for  its  suppression.  In  the  British  House  of  Com- 
mons, lately,  Lord  Palmerston  announced,  that  the  Bey  of  Tunis  had 
abandoned  within  his  dominions,  not  merely  the  slave  trade  but  slav- 
ery itself — that  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  had  prohibited  the  slave  trade 
among  his  subjects  in  the  eastern  seas — that  the  Imaum  of  Muscat 
had  abolished  it  within  certain  latitudes — that  the  Arabian  Chiefs  in 
the  Persian  Gulf  have  also  abandoned  it — and  that  the  Shah  of  Persia 
has  prohibited  it  throughout  his  dominions.  Thus,  then,  though  the 
system  of  an  armed  repression  of  the  slave  trade  has  entirely  failed, 
as  before  shown,  yet  the  hope  is  springing  up  that  it  may  soon  be  so 
circumscribed  that  its  extermination  can  be  more  easily  eftected  by 
encircling  the  remaining  parts  of  the  coast  with  Christian  colonies. 
But  all  these  movements,  important  as  they  are  to  the  cause  of 
humanity,  do  not,  in  the  least,  check  the  slave  trade  with  Cuba  and 
Brazil,  and  the  reason  seems  to  be  this :  the  slave  trade  is  not  a 
business  by  itself,  and  the  slave  traders  are  not  a  distinct  class  of  men. 
The  trade  is  so  mixed  up  with  the  general  business  of  the  world, 
that  it  can  derive  facilities  from  the  most  innocent  commercial  trans- 
actions. In  Brazil  it  is  neither  unlawful  nor  disreputable,  and,  it  is  said 
that  nobody  abstains  from  it,  or  from  dealing  with  those  concerned  in 
it,  from  any  fear  of  law,  scruples  of  conscience,  or  regard  of  charac- 
ter; and  that  to  trade  with  Brazil  at  all  is  to  deal  with  a  slave  trader, 
or  with  some  one  who  deals  freely  with  slave  traders.  Hence,  Eng- 
lish capitalists  in  loaning  money  in  Brazil,  or  English  manufacturers 
in  filling  orders  for  goods  from  Brazil,  are  furnishing  facilities  for  the 
slave  traders  to  prosecute  their  infamous  pursuits.  The  ship-builders 
of  the  United  States,  in  selhng  fast-sailing  merchant  vessels  to  Brazil- 
ians, are  furnishing  to  slave  traders  the  means  for  transporting  slaves 
from  Africa.  Thus  British  capital  and  industry  and  American  skill, 
though,  to  the  superficial  observer,  employed  in  a  lawful  way,  are 


Relations  of  England  to  Liberia.  49 

indiref  tly  furnisliing  the  means  for  the  prosecution  of  the  slave  trade, 
and  affording  facilities  to  those  engaged  directly  in  it,  which,  if  with- 
drawn, would  greatly  embarrass  llieir  operations,  and  make  it  much 
less  difficult  to  suppress  it.  Nor  has  the  success  of  England,  in 
securing  the  above  named  acts  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade, 
accomplished  anything  in  her  great  work  of  extensive  tropical  free 
labor  cultivation  in  ^ifrica,  as  the  means  upon  which  she  relies  to 
recover  her  former  position,  and  to  break  down  the  prosperity  of  her 
rivals. 

In  Sierra  Leone,  the  commercial  affairs  being  in  the  hands  of  white 
men,  has  prevented  that  advancement  in  industry,  and  in  the  know- 
ledge of  business  among  the  colored  population,  which  must  exist 
before  habits  of  active  industry  will  be  adopted  by  them.  But  in 
Liberia  all  the  business  is  in  the  hands  of  colored  men,  and  some  of 
them  have  accumulated  fortunes.  Their  success  has  encouraged 
others  to  follow  their  example,  and  industry  is  beginning  to  prevail. 
The  great  work  ot  tropical  cultivation  by  free  labor  has  been  success- 
fully commenced  by  the  Freemen  of  Liberia.  Tropical  products 
have  been  exported  in  small  quantities,  from  the  colony  to  England. 
Its  coffee  was  found  to  be  superior  to  that  of  all  other  countries,  except 
Mocha,  and  about  equal  to  it.  The  coffee  tree,  in  Liberia,  produces 
double  the  quantity,  annually,  which  that  of  the  West  Indies  bears. 
Its  cotton,  a  native  of  its  forests,  is  of  a  superior  quality.  Its  capacity 
for  producing  sugar  has  been  tested,  and  found  equal  to  any  other 
country.  Capital  and  labor  only  are  required  to  make  Liberia  more 
than  rival  Louisiana,  because  frosts  never  touch  its  crops,  and  labor- 
ers will  not  be  thrown  idle  in  the  former,  from  that  cause,  as  they  are 
in  the  latter.  Such  is  the  nature  of  the  soil  and  climate  of  Liberia,  and 
such  the  easy  cultivation  of  the  products  used  for  food,  that  tlie  labor 
of  a  man,  one  third  of  his  time,  will  supply  him  with  necessary  sub- 
sistence, leaving  him  the  remaining  two-tliirds  for  mental  improvement 
and  to  cultivate  articles  for  export.  x\n  industrious  man  in  Liberia 
must,  therefore,  become  rich,  and  able  to  indulge  his  taste  for  the 
elegancies  of  life,  leading  him  to  the  purchase  of  foreign  commodities. 
Liberia,  therefore,  offered  to  England  a  field  in  wliich  she  could  at 
once  commence  her  experiment.  All  that  is  needed  in  Liberia  to 
develop  its  resources,  and  to  give  it  the  ascendancy  over  all  other 
portions  of  the  tropical  world,  is  capital  and  labor.  The  first  can  be 
abundandy  supplied  by  England  ;  the  second  liy  the  United  States  and 
Africa.  But  African  labor,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  colony  where 
intelhgence  prevails,  cannot  be  made  productive  until  the  education  of 
tlte  natives  has  been  undertaken.  This  work,  if  extended  very  rapid- 
ly, must  be  performed,  in  a  good  degree,  by  emierant  teachers  and 
missionaries  from  the  United  States.  Hence  the  wisdom  of  the  policy 
of  Enjiland  in  now  favoring  our  colony.  We  can  supply  teachers  to 
aid  in  civilizing  Africa.  Great  Britain  cannot,  and,  disconnected  from 
our  colony,  she  cannot  create  intelligence  and  industry,  and  there- 
fore, cannot,  at  present,  commewe  her  scheme  of  extensive  tropical 
cultivalion  without  the  aid  of  Liberia. 


50  lielations  of  England  to  Liberia. 

Here,  now,  we  claim,  is  the  solution  of  the  question  of  England's  pres- 
ent liberality  toward  Liberia.  Her  own  interests  and  purposes,  demand 
an  early  demonstration  of  the  practicability  of  employing  free  labor 
in  opposition  to  slave  labor,  on  an  extensive  scale,  in  tropical  Africa. 
Her  own  African  colonies  have  been,  says  McQueen,  very  injudicious- 
ly selected  for  extending  an  influence  into  Africa.  But  the  position  of 
Liberia  is  much  more  favorable,  and  will  enable  her,  perhaps,  from 
llie  head  of  the  St.  Pauls,  to  reach  across  the  Kong  mountains,  and 
grasp  the  tributaries  of  the  upper  Niger,  and,  connecting  the  two 
rivers  by  rail-road,  secure  the  commerce  of  the  interior  to  the  capital 
of  the  Republic,  as  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  have 
secured  that  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

England,  therefore,  at  the  moment  that  President  Roberts  visited 
.  London,  found  herself  in  a  position  compelling  her  to  a  change  of 
policy  toward  our  colony.  Liberia  at  that  moment,  was  the  only 
territory  under  heaven,  where  could  be  commenced,  immediately, 
her  darling  scheme  of  extensive  tropical  cidtivation  by  free  labor. 
And  Liberia  only,  of  all  the  territory  that  might  be  made  available, 
contained  the  elements  of  success, — intelligence  and  industry. 
Here  was  England's  position  and  here  Liberia's.  The  old  Empire, 
shaken  by  powerful  rivals,  and  driven  to  extremity,  was  seeking  a 
prop  of  sufficient  strength  to  support  her.  The  young  Republic  in 
the  feebleness  of  infancy  was  needing  a  protector.  That  secret, 
unseen,  hidden,  invincible,  and  all-controlling  Power,  which  had 
impelled  England  onward  in  her  giant  efforts  to  extirpate  the  slave 
trade  and  to  abolish  slavery,  and  which  had  inspired  the  hearts  of 
American  Christians  to  restore  the  colored  man  to  Africa,  and  had 
watclied  over  and  protected  the  feeble  colony  until  it  couhl  assume  a 
national  position  ;  that  Providence  which  had  made  England's  crimes 
of  former  years,  to  react  upon  and  embarrass  her  in  all  her  relations, 
had  now  brought,  face  to  face,  the  Prime  Minister  of  England  and  the 
President  of  die  Republic  of  Liberia.  The  first,  was  the  representative 
of  that  once  unscrupulous  but  powerful  government,  whose  participa- 
tion in  the  slave  trade,  to  build  up  an  extensive  commerce  and  to  ag- 
grandize herself,  had  doomed  the  children  of  Africa  to  perpetual  bond- 
age; but  who  was  now,  as  a  consequence  of  fhat  very  slave  trade, 
compelled  to  the  most  powerful  exertions  for  its  suppression,  to  save 
herself  from  commercial  embarrassment  and  national  decline  :  llie  se- 
cond, was  the  Executive  of  a  new  Nation — himself  a  descendant  of 
one  of  the  victims  of  the  English  slave  traders — seeking  the  admis- 
sion of  an  African  Republic  into  the  family  of  nations.  The  old 
Monarchy  and  the  new  Republic  tluis  found  themselves  standing  in 
the  relation  to  each  other  of  mutual  dependence — the  one,  to  secure 
a  field  for  the  immediate  commencement  of  her  grand  experiment  of 
rendering  free  labor  more  productive  than  slave  labor,  and  of  creating 
new  markets  for  her  manufactures, — the  other,  to  obtain  protection 
and  to  offer  the  products  of  the  labor  of  the  freemen  of  Liberia  to 
the  commerce  of  the  world. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  why  Great  Britain  should  be  willing  to  aid 


Relations  of  England  to   Liberia.  ftl" 

Liberia  in  extending  her  influence  over  Africa,  and  thus  introduce  into 
the  world  a  new  nation  who,  as  soon  as  its  eighty  millions  of  people 
are  civilized  and  stinuilated  to  industry,  can  have  the  prejjonderance 
over  all  the  world  in  tropical  productions,  and  consequently,  have 
the  means  of  acquiring  power  and  influence  in  the  world  equal  lo  that 
of  other  nations.     The  solution  of  this  question  is  not  diflii-ult. 

The  policy  of  Great  Britain,  for  a  long  period,  caused  her  to  grasp 
after  foreign  colonial  possessions,  and  her  glory  and  her  strenglti  was 
believed  to  be  measured  by  the  extent  to  which  she  could  multiply 
her  foreign  dependencies.  When  her  manufacturing  interests  began 
to  multiply,  slie  found  a  great  stimulus  to  this  branch  of  her  national 
resources,  in  the  markets  furnished  by  her  colonies.  The  increased 
commerce  thus  created,  furnished  another  channel  for  the  employment 
of  British  capital  and  enterprise.  The  multitude  of  sailors  required 
for  the  merchant  service,  were  readily  transferred  to  her  navy  in 
times  of  war,  and  gave  her  immense  power  on  the  ocean.  '  But  the 
unfortunate  attempt  of  England,'  says  McCuUoch,  in  his  statistical 
account  of  the  British  Empire,  to  compel  the  American  colonists  '  to 
contribute  toward  the  revenue  of  the  empire,  terminating  so  disas- 
trously, has  led  her  ever  since  to  renounce  all  attempts  to  tax  her 
colonies  for  any  purpose,  except  that  of  their  own  internal  government 
and  police.'  Colonies,  therefore,  have  since  been  cherished  chiefly 
on  account  of  the  ouflets  tl\ey  afford  to  her  surplus  population;  the 
field  they  offer  to  private  adventurers  for  the  acquisition  of  fortunes, 
to  be  afterwards  transferred  to  the  mother  country ;  the  increase  they 
add  to  her  commerce;  the  markets  which  they  furnish  for  her  manu- 
factures ;  and  the  agricultural  or  mineral  products  which  tiiey  sup]>ly, 
in  return,  for  consumption  and  use  in  England, 

An  opinion,  however,  is  beginning  to  possess  the  public  mind  in 
Euuland,  that  the  possession  of  colonies  is  not  of  the  especial 
importance  to  her  that  they  were  once  considered.  The  expenditure 
for  their  government  and  defense  often  outweighs  the  political  and 
commercial  advantages  realized  from  their  possession.  It  is  now 
believed,  that  her  commercial  and  manufacturing  interests  can  be  as 
well  if  not  better  promoted,  by  a  liberal  commerce  with  independent 
states,  than  with  colonies  under  her  own  control.  This  conviction 
has  been  forced  upon  the  English,  chiefly  by  the  results  which  have 
followed  the  Independence  of  the  United  States.  The  British  o-o- 
vernment  now  derives  ten  times  more  advansaife,  says  McCllloch, 
from  intercourse  with  the  United  States,  than  when  she  iiad  a 
Governor  in  every  state,  or  than  s-he  has  derived  from  all  her  other 
colonies  put  together.  In  a  more  comprejiensive  view  of  British 
relations,  by  Porter,  in  his  Pro^^ress  of  Nations,  we  find  it  stated, 
that,  in  1837,  tiie  exports  of  Great  Britain  to  the  United  Stales 
amounted  to  more  than  half  the  sum  of  her  shipments  to  the  whole 
of  Europe,  while  of  her  entire  foreign  exports,  amounting  to  $235,- 
000,000,  only  one-third  was  consumed  by  her  colonies. 

But  as  other  governments  liave  arisen  and  attained  stability,  and 
encouragement   has   been   afforded   by  them    to   home  industry,  the 


U.  OF  ILL  LIB, 


52  Relations  of  England  to  Liberia. 

instinct  of  self  preservation  has  led  to  the  adoption  of  such  restric- 
tive duties  as  would  protect  their  people,  in  the  infancy  of  their 
manufacturing  efforts,  against  the  superiority  in  machinery,  capital 
and  skill  of  older  nations.  In  this  way  England  has  been  so  much 
restricted,  from  time  to  time,  in  her  commercial  operations,  that,  in 
1844,  (Westminster  Review)  her  exports  to  the  European  states, 
notwithstanding  their  vast  increase  of  population,  were  considerably 
less  than  they  had  been  forty  years  ago. 

But  England  has  been  embarrassed,  not  only  by  the  restrictive 
duties  of  other  governments,  but  many  of  them  are  beginning  to  rival 
her,  in  the  sale  of  manufactures,  in  those  countries  whose  markets 
are  still  open  to  foreign  competition.  This  rivalry  in  manufactures 
is  one  of  more  serious  import  to  Great  Britain  than  even  the  rivalry 
which  opposes  her  in  tropical  productions.  The  latter  is  to  her  as 
the  arteries,  the  former  the  heart.  The  truth  of  this  assertion  will 
be  seen  in  the  following  statements. 

The  great  leading  interest  of  England, — her  principal  dependence 
for  tlie  maintainance  of  her  power  and  influence, — is  her  manufac- 
tures. Out  of  this  interest  grows  her  immense  commerce,  and  from 
her  commerce  arises  her  ability  to  sustain  her  vast  navy,  giving  to 
her  such  a  controlling  influence  in  the  afl'airs  of  the  world.  '  Wealth, 
civdizatiou,  and  knowledge,  add  rapidly  and  indefinitely  to  the 
powers  of  manufacturing  and  commercial  industry.'  All  these  Great 
Britain  possesses  in  an  eminent  degree.  '  It  is  asserted  that  the 
manufactures  of  England  could,  in  a  short  time,  be  made  to  quadruple 
their  produce — that  so  vast  is  the  power  which  the  steam  engine  has 
added  to  the  means  of  production  in  commercial  industry,  that  it  is 
susceptible  of  almost  indefinite  and  immediate  extension — that 
Manchester  and  Glasgow  could,  in  a  few  years,  prepare  themselves 
for  furnishing  muslin  and  cotton  goods  to  the  whole  world — that  with 
England  the  great  difficulty  always  felt  is,  not  to  get  hands  to  keep 
pace  with  the  demand  of  the  consumers,  but  to  get  a  demand  to  keep 
pace  with  the  hands  employed  in  the  production.'' 

With  such  resources  and  capabilities,  and  with  such  interests 
involved  in  their  development  and  extension — interests  involving  the 
very  existence  of  the  empire — England  is  not  to  be  easily  defeated 
in  her  purposes.  When  restricted  or  excluded  from  one  market, 
she  speedily  seeks  or  creates  another.  Tlie  intelligence,  the  enter- 
prise, and  the  energies,  of  her  subjects,  are  called  forth  by  govern- 
meat,  and  made  subservient  to  the  promotion  of  her  interests  and  the 
extension  of  her  commerce  and  her  power.  The  desert  or  savage 
Islands  of  the  sea;  the  bulwarks  of  India,  or  the  walls  of  China; 
the  frozen  regions  of  the  north,  or  the  tropical  suns  of  the  south, 
present  few  obstacles  to  her  enterprise.  Nor  need  we  stop  to  prove, 
in  detail,  that  tlie  almost  irresistible  energies  of  Great  Britain,  thus 
put  forth,  and  embracing  in  their  range  all  the  earth, /nr/  their  chief 
motive  pou-er  in  her  desire  to  extend  the  sale  of  her  manifartures. 
Crusli  her  manufactures,  and  the  throne  will  soon  totter  to  its  fall. 
But  what  gives  a  tenfold  interest  and  importance  to  her  enterprises, 


Relations  of  England  to  Liberia.  53 

is,  that  wherever  she  goes,  wherever  her  standard  is  planted,  a 
Christian  Civilizadon,  thougii  funning  no  part  of  her  design, 
ahnost  invariably  follows  hrr  conquest  of,  or  treaty  with,  a  pagan 
nation  or  a  savage  tribe.  The  greatness  of  England,  and  her  con- 
sequent necessities,  are  thus  compelling  her  to  the  fulfillment  of  a 
mission  of  vast  moment  to  the  world  ;  and  in  its  execution  she  seems 
likelv  to  be  driven  from  point  to  point  until  she  completes  the  earth's 
circuit.  Though  she  "  meancth  not  so,"  yet  she  m;iy  emphatically 
be  called  the  great  agent  for  the  extension  of  civilization.  She 
is  now,  it  seems,  compelled  to  expend  iier  energies  upon  Africa,  so 
as  to  secure  to  herself  the  advantages  arising  from  its  civilization. 
Two  luindred  thousand  of  her  own  subjects  are  now  annually  emi- 
grating to  other  countries.  This  is  to  England  an  annual  loss  of 
two  hundred  thousand  laborers,  whom  she  cannot  profitably  employ 
at  home.  But  were  the  hordes  of  barbarians  in  tropical  Africa 
civilized,  and  engaged  in  developing  its  immense  resources,  the 
demand  created  in  the  supply  of  their  wants  would  furnish  labor  for 
all  unemployed  English  subjects,  and  add  immensely  to  the  pros- 
perity of  Great  Britain. 

It  will  now  be  seen  that  England  is  not  only  interested  in  encour- 
ao-ing  the  cultivation  of  tropical  productions  by  Liberia,  as  a  means 
of  d'estroying  the  slave  trade  and  slavery,  and  of  crippling  the 
energies  of  her  rivals,  but  that  she  is  also  most  deeply  interested  in 
securing  the  markets  which  Liberia  will  open  up  in  Africa  for 
English  manufactures.  Tropical  Africa  can  never  aftbrd  an  outlet 
for  European  emigration,  and  can,  therefore,  be  of  no  importance  to 
England  for  that  purpose.  Its  commercial  advantages  can  be  as  well 
secured  in  tlie  hands  of  independent  states,  as  if  England  had  posses- 
sion of  it  as  colonies.  Great  Britain,  therefore,  can,  consistently  with 
her  policy  and  her  interests,  employ  her  influence  and  her  power  in 
promoting  the  welfare  of  Liberia.  Nay,  more,  it  will  be  seen,  when 
all  the  facts  stated  are  considered,  that  she  is  compelled,  by  her  own 
necessities,  to  use  the  most  energetic  measures  for  the  speedy  exten- 
sion of  the  influence  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia, 
as  the  point  where  she  can,  at  the  earliest  period,  commence  her 
important  experiment.  Other  points  hereafter,  may,  and  no  doubt 
will  be  speedily  made  subservient  to  her  purpose,  but  Liberia  is  her  only 
present  reliance  for  the  commencement  of  her  great  work.  Civiliza- 
tion is  here  already  introduced  and  begins  to  radiate  into  the  interior, 
and  only  needs  the  necessary  aid  and  time  to  extend  its  blessings 
throughout  Africa. 

It  is  true,  that  England  will  have  rivals,  in  the  sale  of  her  manu- 
factures, in  Liberia.  She  cares  but  litUe  for  that,  however,  because 
her  facilities  for  manufacturing  are,  at  present,  and  must  be  for  years 
to  come,  so  much  superior  to  that  of  all  other  countries,  that  she  can 
successfully  rival  them,  even  in  their  own  markets,  when  not  embar- 
rassed by  tariff's.  She  has  taken  good  care  to  make  the  first  treaty 
of  commerce  and  amity  with  Liberia,  and  thus  stands  in  the  fore- 
ground, as  the  friend  of  the  young  Reoublic. 


^  Relations  of  England  to  Liberia. 

Now,  then,  we  repeat,  withoiM;  the  fear  of  successful  contradiction, 
that  Great  Britain  finds  herself  in  a  position,  at  this  moment,  so 
disadvantageous,  both  in  her  relations  to  tropical  cultivation  and  in 
the  sale  of  her  manufactures,  that  one  principal  means  of  extrica- 
tion is  in  the  success  of  Liberia,  and  tliat  she  is,  therefore,  vitally 
interested  in  having  the  young  Republic  extend  its  influence,  with  ail 
possible  rapidity,  over  the  c(;ntinent  of^frica;  so  as,  at  the  earliest 
practicable  day,  to  have  her  eighty  millions  of  naked  or  half-clothed 
inhabitants  subjected  to  civilization,  stimulated  to  industry,  clothed  in 
British  fabrics,  and,  in  return,  producing  abundantly  those  tropical 
products  now  become  absolutely  necessary,  for  the  manufactures,  the 
luxuries,  and  the  necessities  of  life,  amongst  the  civilized  nations  of 
the  temperate  zones.  And  with  such  interests  involved  in  the  suc- 
cess of  Liberia,  and  with  such  power  and  influence  enlisted  in  her 
support,  humanly  speaking,  how  can  our  Colonization  scheme  fail  ? 

But  wo  must  hasten  to  a  conclusion  of  this  protracted  discussion,  and  leave  many 
points  of  additional  interest  untouched.  Indeed  nothing  but  the  great  importance  of 
the  bearings  of  the  questions  which  have  l)een  investigated,  can  justify  the  occupa- 
tion of  so  much  time.  The  cause  of  humanity,  however,  demands  that  attention 
shall  he  given  to  these  topics.  Africa  has  long  groaned  hopelessly  to  be  delivered 
from  the  deluge  of  woes  which  has  for  ages  rolled  over  her.  The  dawn  of  her  re- 
demption is  now  appearing.  The  light  of  civilization  and  Chrislianiiy  has  broken 
forth  upon  her  shores  and  begins  to  dispel  the  gloom  of  centuries.  'J'he  slave  traders, 
like  so  many  spirits  of  darkness,  are  compelled  to  limit  their  hellish  labors  to  districts 
yet  unillumined  by  that  light.  ?solhing  seems  to  be  wanting  to  the  accoinpHshment 
of  Africa's  redemption  but  a  suflicient  increase  of  the  agencies  which  have  already 
been  productive  of  such  rich  fruits  in  J^iberia.  These  agencies  are  being  rapidly 
called  into  action.  The  Providence  of  God  is  operating  upon  the  nations,  most  di- 
rectl}'  concerned  in  the  question  of  Africa's  future  destiny,  so  as  to  make  it  their  in- 
terest to  favor  the  civilization  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  continent.  Great  Britain,  as 
already  shown,  is  enlisted  by  considerations,  commercial  and  manufucluriug,  which 
she  never  overlooks,  to  aid  in  this  great  work  of  philanthropy.  She  can  sufiply  un- 
limited sums  of  money  to  stimulate  enterprise  and  industry,  and  to  promote  civiliza- 
tion in  Africa,  and  she  will  do  it  as  fast  as  it  can  be  profitably  employed. 

The  people  of  France,  having  achieved  their  own  libertie-;,  soon  pronounced  the 
freedom  of  the  slaves  in  their  islands.  France  did  not  wait  to  calculate  the  political 
and  commercial  considerations  involved  in  emancipation,  before  she  obeyed  the  dic- 
tates of  humanity.  Herself  free,  she  desired  the  freedom  of  l!ie  world.  Having  pos- 
session of  many  important  points  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  she  will  crush  the  slave 
trade  wherever  she  has  control,  and  thus  greatly  aid  in  its  suppression  and  in  the 
promotion  of  African  civilization.  But  as  she  has  not  within  herself,  the  command 
of  the  agencies  necessary  to  civilize  the  districts  which  she  owns,  she  may  find  herself 
compelled  to  call  upon  the  colored  people  of  the  United  States  to  commence  and  carry 
on  the  work,  and  thus  promote  our  col>)nization  enterprise.  And  as  France  has  al- 
ready proved  herself  capable  of  acts  of  the  greatest  magnanimity,  we  must  ask  of  her 
one  favor,  though  it  may  seem,  in  us,  an  act  of  presumption.  But  as  an  .\merican 
Republican,  we  can  appeal  to  French  Republicans.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
the  Republic  of  Liberia,  that  it  should  have  guaranteed  to  if,  by  other  nations,  the 
right  to  purchase  and  annex  the  whole  line  of  coast  from  Sierra  Leone  to  Cape  Lo- 
pez, so  that  no  other  power  may  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  extension  of  its 
jurisdiction  over  that  region.  The  Gaboon,  now  in  the  possession  of  France,  lies  at 
the  southeastern  limits  of  this  region,  and  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  points  in  Africa. 
We  ask  of  France,  therefore,  that  she  shall  offer  the  Gaboon  country',  as  a  free  gift, 
to  the  free  colored  people  of  the  United  States,  upon  which  to  form  a  new  state  ip 
connexion  with  Liberia.     And,  from  the  circumstances  under  which  her  title  to  this 


Concluding  Remarks.  55 

territory  was  acquireJ,  during  the  Monarchy,  it  is  believed  that  ihe  Republic,  when 
the  subject  is  presented  for  its  consideration,  will  yield  it  for  that  purpose. 

The  United  Stales  is  also  deeply  interested  in  the  success  of  Liberia,  and  is  being 
involved  in  difficulties  and  peri)lexities  propelling  her  onward  to  a  point  where  she, 
too,  must  exert  herself  in  behalf  of  the  young  Republic.  Commercial  and  manu- 
facturing interests  will  influence  her,  as  they  have  already  influenced  Great  Britain. 
But  in  addiliim  to  these,  other  considerations  of  far  deeper  import  will  soon  i)ress 
themselves  upon  our  attention.  The  rapid  increase  of  our  slave  population  is  begin- 
ning to  alarm  the  stoutest  advocates  of  the  perpetuation  of  slavery.  V\'iih  their 
uniform  ratio  of  increase  continued,  which,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  Ihree  per  ceiil. 
per  annum,  in  50  years,  from  1S50.  the  slave  population  of  the  United  States,  will 
number  12,000,000,' with  an  annual  increase  of  360,000.  In  100  years  hence,  they 
will  have  increased  to  44,500,000,  with  an  annual  increase  of  1,300.000.  And  in 
150  years  their  numbers  will  be  165,000,000,  and  the  yearly  increase  5,000,000. 

Now,  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  this  number  of  slaves  can  be  held  in  bondage, 
or  be  profitably  employed,  by  the  southern  states  of  our  union,  for  half  the  j)eriod 
included  in  our  calculation.  But  how  emaucipalion  is  to  be  ultimately  eft'ected,  we 
cannot  foretell.  This  we  know,  that  it  nnisl  be  dune.  The  South  is  becoming  aware 
of  the  difficulties  oi  the  future  afdaverij,  and  are  beginning  to  look  at  its  appalling 
consequences.  Many  states  have  already  legislated  to  prevent  the  sale  and  transfer  of 
the  slaves  of  the  more  northern  states  into  their  bounds,  and  it  would  not  oe  unexpected, 
if,  in  a  few  years,  the  slave  holders  of  the  more  northern  slave  states,  should  be  unable 
to  find  a  market  for  their  surplus  slaves.  And  whenever  this  event  occurs,  the  masters 
will  soon  be  over-supplied  with  laborers  irhich  they  cannot  employ  projitnhly,  and 
emancipation  must  take  place.  And  when  ever  this  work  commences,  the  work  of 
Colonization  to  Africa  will  be  greatly  increased.  Liberia,  therefore,  is  to  the  south- 
ern states,  as  well  as  to  thosaof  the  north,  and  to  the  nations  of  Europe,  a  point  of  very 
great  interest.  Not  one  of  them,  scarcely,  can  carry  out  their  present  policy  without 
proinoting  the  interests  of  our  colony.  In  these  facts  we  find  an  additional  argument 
for  the  perpetuity  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia. 

.\nd  further,  if  the  scheme  of  tropical  cultivation  in  Africa,  by  free  labor,  can  be 
successfully  carried  out.  at  an  early  day,  and  of  which  we  entertain  but  little  doubt, 
the  work  of  emancipation  in  this  country  may  be  forced  to  a  consummation  much 
more  rapidly  than  many  suppose.  The  United  States,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  have 
not  one  acre  of  tropical  lands.  Our  crops  of  cotton  and  sugar,  are  both  liable  to 
blight,  by  frosts,  before  they  are  fully  matured  and  secured.  But  it  is  not  so  in 
Africa.  More  than  three  fourths  of  the  lands  of  that  vast  continent  are  within  the 
tropics,  and  secure  from  the  action  of  frosts.  The  employment  of  capital,  in  tropical 
cultivation  in  Africa,  would  long  since  have  been  extended  to  millions  upon  millions 
of  dollars,  but  for  the  error  committed  in  attempting  it  by  tvhile  men  and  amongst 
aJi  uncivilized  people-  This  error  is  now  detected  and  will  not  be  repeated.  The 
American  Colonization  Society  has,  by  its  eff  )rts,  dispelled  the  doubts  and  difficulties 
overhanging  the  question  of  Africaa  ('ivilization.  Capital,  in  a  few  years,  can 
be  employed  more  profitably  in  Liberia  than  in  the  United  States.  Capital  and  labor 
will  soon  both  find  their  way  to  .Africa,  and  perhaps  in  modes  not  now  anticipated. 
It  is  no  uncommon  occurrence  now,  for  a  slave  holder,  in  this  country,  to  let  his 
slave  out  on  parole,  to  earn  a  fixed  price,  upon  the  payment  of  which  to  the  master, 
the  slave  is  a  freeman.  It  is  very  rare,  in  such  cases,  that  a  breach  of  fiith  occurs. 
Now,  it  may  not  be  long,  if  the  southern  market  should  be  closed  against  the  sale  of 
northern  slaves,  before  this  system  of  self-emancipation  may  be  carried  out  upon  a 
grand  scale,  by  masters  bargaining  lu'th  their  slaves  to  emigrate  to  Liberia,  there 
to  earn  the  price  of  their  freedom.  Such  an  arrangement  would  add  to  the  amount 
'->f  free  labor  products  which  must  come  into  competition  with  those  of  the  slave  labor 
of  our  southern  states.  In  this  way  Kentucky  and  Virginia  could  retaliate,  with 
fearful  effe-t,  upon  South  (Carolina  and  Louisiana. 

But,  as  we  hasten  to  a  conclusion,  we  can  only  throw  out  suggestions  without 
waiting  to  dwell  U[ion  them.  We  are  fully  aware,  that  the  idea  that  tropical  culti- 
vation in  .Africa,  can  seriously  affect  the  value  of  .slave  labor  in  the  United  States,  for 
centuries  to  come,  will  be  considered  visionary.  But  we  must  ask  all  such  doubters 
to  recollect,  that  commercial  revolutions  occur  almost  as  suddenly,  in   this  age,  as 


S^  Concluding  Remarks. 

political  ones.  The  world  has  learned  how  to  achieve  great  things  in  a  short  time. 
We  western  men  have  witnessed  such  wonders  pass  before  our  eyes,  that  we  believe 
capital  and  labor,  skill  and  enterprise,  can  accomplish  any  thing  within  the  range  of 
human  power,  and  that  what  formerly  required  centuries  for  its  consummation,  can 
now  be  executed  in  months  or  years.  Born  in  Ohio,  when  it  was  yet  comparatively 
a  wilderness,  I,  myself,  have  seen  it  rise  to  what  it  now  is,  and  have  also  seen  State 
after  State  called  rapidly  into  existence,  in  the  wilderness  of  the  west,  in  less  than 
half  a  century.  And  yet  the  sources  of  this  prosperity  and  this  progress  are  unex- 
hausted and  inexhaustible.  No  limits  can  be  set  to  this  progress  but  the  impassable 
barriers  of  the  great  Pacific. 

Give  to  Liberia  intelligent  and  industrious  emigrants,  and  she,  too,  will  advance  in 
prosperity  and  in  greatness.  The  materials  of  such  an  emigration  exist  in  the  United 
States,  and  our  colored  men,  generally,  are  only  awaiting  the  evidences  of  the  truth 
of  what  is  said  of  Liberia.  When  convinced  that  it  is  not  a  trap  to  enslave  them 
again,  as  they  have  been  told,  they  will  move  with  the  heart  of  one  man,  as  the  Is- 
raelites of  old  removed  from  Egypt  to  Canaan.  The  sympathiesof  our  colored  men 
are  with  England  and  Frar.-,e.  These  nations  possess  their  confidence  more  fully 
than  Americans.  England  and  France  are  both  interested  in  blessing  Africa  with 
civilization.  A  formal  invitation  from  these  two  governments,  addressed  to  our  free 
colored  people,  and  asking  them  to  emigrate  to  Liberia,  under  their  protection  and 
patronage,  would  enlist  tens  of  thousands  to  remove  at  once  to  the  young  Republic. 
These  emigrants,  being  settled  at  suitable  points  along  the  coast,  would  greatly  aid 
in  checking  the  slave  trade,  and  thus,  its  risks  being  much  increased,  the  British 
capital  employed  at  present  in  that  traffic,  icoiild  be  withdrawn  from  Brazil  and 
transferred  to  Liberia.  A  large  concentration  of  capital  and  labor  in  Africa,  which 
are  both  practicable,  would  soon  be  felt,  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  6?/  the  increased 
supply  of  free  labor  trojncal  products  brought  into  competition  with  those  of 
slave  hbor.  When  this  event  shall  occur,  as  occur  it  will,  a  reduction  of  the  value 
of  slave  labor  must  follow;  and  this  together  with  the  rapidly  increasing  bulk  of  the 
now  unwieldy  mass  of  our  slave  population,  must  greatly  hasten  the  period  of 
final  emancipation. 

Now,  if  the  possession  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  soil  of  tropical  Africa,  and  the 
control  of  its  products,  be  of  such  vast  political  and  commercial  importance  to  such 
governments  as  France  and  England,  as  their  policy  towards  Africa,  heretofore,  so 
fully  indicatrs;  we  would  re.-ipectfully  enquire  of  our  olored  people,  whether  their 
possession  and  control  are  not  of  equal  importance  and  value  to  African  men  them- 
selves 1  And,  if  the  monopoly  of  tropical  products  once  secured  to  Englishmen  an 
ascendancy  among  nations;  will  not  the  same  advantages  be  of  equal  importance  to 
African  men,  and  afford  to  them  the  means  of  rising  into  national  greatness  and  na- 
tional glory  1  And,  further,  if  Africa  is  of  such  importance  to  European  nations, 
that  they  will  expend  millions  of  dollars  to  secure  to  themselves  the  advantages  of  its 
products  and  its  commerce;  what  will  posterity,  what  will  the  world  say,  of  those  of 
our  African  population,  tvho  refuse  to  receive  such  a  rich  inheritance,  though  offered 
to  their  acceptance  as  a  free  gift  ?  And,  again,  if  the  destruction  of  the  slave  trade 
and  the  abolition  of  slavery,  be  matters  of  such  vast  moral  importance  as  to  call  for 
the  united  efforts  of  Christian  men,  throughout  the  world,  to  destroy  them;  and  if 
these  greatest  of  all  modern  moral  enterprises,  inferior  only  to  our  purely  missionary 
efforts,  caimot  be  accomplished,  bi;t  by  our  Christian  colored  men  forming  themselves 
into  a  rampart  around  the  African  coast;  and  if  colored  men  can,  by  engaging  in 
this  great  moral  and  religious  movement,  better  their  own  condition  and  secure  to 
themselves  and  their  children,  and  ultimately  to  the  millions  of  Africa,  all  the  blessings 
of  social,  civil,  and  religious  liberty ;  why  should  we  not  urge  them  to  a  fair  and  candid 
consideration  of  the  question  of  returning  to  Africa  as  civilized  and  christianized  men, 
to  take  peaceful  possession  of  that  ancient  inheritance  from  which  their  uncivilized 
and  pagan  forefathers  were  forcibly  torn  ? 

But  we  shall  not  further  weary  your  patience.  We  had  designed  presenting  an 
argument  for  the  success  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  based  upon  the  innate  moral 
principle  existing  within  her,  and  growing  out  of  the  religious  freedom  secured  to 
her  citizens,  and  the  ample  means  of  religious  instruction  provided  for  her  people. 
But  we  forbear. 


A    LECTURE 


Oic 


AFRICAN  CIVILIZATION. 


INCLUDING    A    BRIEF    OUTLINE 


SOCIAL  AND  MORAL  CONDITION  OF  AFRICA; 


AND     THE     RELATIONS    OF 


A.AIERICAN  SLAVERY  TO  AFRICAN  CIVILIZATION. 


DELIVERED   IN  THE  HALL  OF   THE   HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTA- 
TIVES OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO,  JANUARY  19,  1850. 


Bt    DAVID    CHRISTY, 

AGENT    OF  THE   AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 


COLUMBUS: 

PUBLISHED    BY   J.    H.    RILEY   &    CO. 

PRINTED  DT  SCOTT  It    BASCOH. 

1853. 


Columbus,  Feb  5th,  1850. 

Dear  Sir  : — The  undersigned  members  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Ohio, 
being  desirous  of  securing  to  the  public  the  means  of  fully  and  calmly  in- 
vestigating the  subject  of  the  provision  which  ought  to  be  made  for  our  colored 
people,  and,  believing  that  the  facts  contained  in  your  Lecture  on  African  Civi- 
lization, in  the  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  19th  ult,  would 
materially  aid  in  the  promotion  of  that  object,  we  would  respectfully  recuest  a 
copy  of  the  same  for  publication. 

To  DAVID  CHRISTY,  Esq. 
Agent  of  the  African  Colonization  Society. 


Geo.  W.  Bull, 
J.  S.  Whiton, 
H.  B.  Spelman, 
James  M.  Burt, 
David  Dresback, 
Daniel  Keller, 
John  A.  Weyer, 
S.  S.  Sprague, 
S.  LuTZ, 
Dennis  Smith, 
E.  B.  Fee, 
Andrew  Fergusox, 
Wm.  p.  Simpson, 
Fisher  A.  Blocksom, 
John  Graham, 
J.  H.  Dubbs, 
V.  Chase, 


H.  G.  Blake, 
Anselm  T.  Holcomb, 
Richard  Green, 
James  Rodgers, 
Joshua  Worlev, 
J.  F.  Patton, 
J.  S.  Copeland, 
M.  R.  Waite, 
Wm.  B.  Fairchild, 
Seth  Woodford, 
John  Beaver, 
Miller  Moody, 
Wm.  Given, 
John  Gill, 
Samuel  Patterson, 
J.  S.  Conklin, 
G.  W.  Barker, 


Wm.  Lawrence, 

E.    K.    EcKLEY, 

H.  B.  Payne, 
W.  Dennison,  Jr  , 
Samuel  T.  Worcester, 
Geo.  D.  Hendricks, 
RuEL  Beeson, 
Chauncey  N.  Olds, 
Pinkney  Lewis, 

H.  ViNAL, 

W.  Howard, 
Barnabus  Burns, 
James  Cunningham, 
J.  W.  Wilson, 
James  Myers, 
M.  S.  Mustin. 


Gentlemen  : — It  afTords  me  pleasure  to  comply  with  your  request  for  the 
publication  of  my  Lecture  on  African  Civilization,  as  connected  uith,  and  de- 
pendent upon,  American  Colonization  ;  my  only  cause  of  regret  being,  that  more 
of  time  and  of  talent  has  not  been  employed  in  its  discussion,  than  it  has  been  iu 
my  power  to  devote  to  the  subject. 

Since  I  had  the  honor,  one  year  ago,  of  addressing  the  Representatives  of  the 
people  of  Ohio,  on  the  subject  of  African  Colonization,  many  events  have 
transpired  which  serve  to  encourage  us  in  our  great  work.  One  or  two  of  these 
I  may  mention.  Dispatches  from  President  Roberts,  recently  received,  state  that 
agreements  are  now  about  completed  for  the  purchase,  from  the  native  authorities, 
of  the  territory  between  Sierra  Leone  and  Liberia,  and  that  he  is  only  awaiting 
the  arrival  of  funds  to  perfect  the  titles.  The  effect  of  buying  this  region,  and 
extending  over  it  the  laws  of  Liberia,  will  be  the  total  suppression  of  the  slave 
trade,  and  the  emancipation  from  slavery,  of  the  population  included  within  its 
limits — numbering,  perhaps,  over  100,000  men.  But  the  principal  point  of  im- 
portance, connected  with  this  movement,  is  the  fact  that  the  purchase  now  being 
made,  to  a  considerable  extent,  will  be  paid  for  by  the  liberal  donation  of  $5000, 
by  Charles  M'Micken,  Esq.,  of  Cincinnati,  and  that  the  lands  purchfised  by  his 
donation,  are  to  be  presented,  as  a  free  gift,  to  the  colored  people  of  Ohio,  to  afford 
them  an  opportunity  of  putting  forth  all  their  energies,  intellectual  and  moral, 
in  aiding  to  impart  to  Africa,  a  Christian  Civilization.  And  a  still  further  sub- 
ject of  interest  presents  itself,  in  the  very  recent  movement  of  some  of  the  in- 
telligent colored  men  of  Ohio,  who  are  adopting  preparatory  measures  to  take 
possession  of  this  territory  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment. 

Yours,  respectfully, 

DAVID  CHRISTY. 


JA.ME:S  te  CO. ,  STERE0TTFER3. 


LECTURE 


ON 


AFRICAN  CIVILIZATION. 


The  close  of  the  last  century  exhibited  the  social  and  moral  condi- 
tion of  the  world  in  such  an  aspect  as  to  prove  the  excellency  of 
Christianity  over  all  other  religious  systems.  Paganism  had  long 
since  wrought  out  its  legitimate  results,  and  demonstrated  its  impo- 
tency  to  produce  a  high  degree  of  human  happiness.  Mohamme- 
danism, a  shade  better  in  its  principles,  had  progressed  but  little 
bevond  Paganism  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  its  votaries.  Both 
of  these  systems,  constructed  on  principles  consonant  with  fallen 
human  nature,  were, of  necessity,  becoming  effete,  and  stood  before  the 
world  as  giiiantic  edifices,  whose  foundations  were  giving  way,  and 
the  whole  structures  tumbling  into  ruins. 

Christianity,  embracing  principles  antagonistic  to  all  impurity  and 
every  form  of  injustice,  and  demanding  of  men  implicit  obedience  to 
God,  was  no  welcome  visitor  upon  earth,  but  liad  to  endure,  from  its 
earliest  introduction,  the  most  bitter  enmity  and  the  most  sanguinary 
opposition.  At  the  end  of  330  years  from  Christ,  in  addition  to  tlie 
hostility  of  the  Jews,  it  had  passed  through  ten  successive  persecu- 
tions by  the  Roman  Emperors,  which,  failing  to  suppress  it,  only 
served  to  prove  that  the  religion  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was 
indestnictible. 

When,  therefore,  despots  discovered  their  inability  to  annihilate 
the  new  religion,  combinations  were  formed  to  adopt  it  in  the  room 
of  preexisting  systems,  or  rather,  perhaps,  to  engraft  it  upon  them, 
and  mould  it  to  suit  their  purposes.  But  notwithstanding  that 
Christianity  was  thus  corrupted  and  perverted  into  an  engine  of 
political  and  ecclesiastical  despotism,  it  still  retained  much  of  its 
innate  vitality,  and  greatly  advanced  the  social  and  moral  welfare 
of  those  subjected  to  its  influence;  thus  proving  its  superiority  over 
the  false  religious  systems  which  had  so  long  prevailed. 

It  being  an  essential  element  of  the  religion  revealed  by  Christ  to 
generate  independence  of  thought,  its  believers  were  often  found 


4  Introduction. 

holding'  opinions  at  variance  with  those  established  by  law.  These 
tendencies,  it  was  feared,  would  make  the  unrestrained  toleration 
of  Christianity  dangerous  to  Despotism,  because  freedom  of  thought 
and  of  speech,  allowed  to  the  people,  would  weaken  confidence  in 
the  infallibility  of  the  judgment  of  kings,  and  thus  peril  the  stability 
of  thrones.  The  art  of  printing  being  undiscovered,  the  living 
teacher,  for  a  long  period,  was  the  chief  agency  for  the  propagation 
of  the  new  faith.  To  silence  his  voice,  when  not  in  unison  with 
despotic  will,  it  was  conceived,  would  limit  independence  of  thought, 
and  the  desired  uniformity  of  opinion  and  implicit  obedience  to  rulers 
be  secured.  Hence  arose  efibrts,  extending  through  many  centuries, 
and  leading  to  the  shedding  of  torrents  of  blood,  to  force  upon  the 
world  a  unity  of  faith.  But  the  employment  of  the  rack  and  the 
dungeon,  the  gibbet  and  the  stake,  only  tended  more  fully  to  evolve 
another  inherent  principle  of  the  doctrines  taught  by  the  Son  of 
God — the  natural  equality  of  mankind,  and  the  individual  respon- 
sibility of  man  to  God,  demanding  for  the  human  race  equal 
rights  and  liberty  of  conscience. 

A  doctrine  so  inconsistent  with  preconceived  opinions,  and 
fraught,  it  was  perceived,  with  such  dangers  to  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical despotisms,  could  not  but  lead  to  the  most  vigorous  exertions 
for  its  suppression.  Success  so  far  attended  their  efforts,  that  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  became  dimmed  and  ages  of  darkness  ensued, 
during  which  despotism  reposed  in  safety  amid  the  moral  night  it 
had  produced,  until  the  forgotten  Bible,  chained  within  walls  of 
massive  stone,  as  if  to  hide  it  from  the  people,  was  discovered  by 
the  master-spirit  of  his  age,  and  its  divine  light  made  to  reillumine 
the  world. 

The  occurrence  of  this  event  with  the  nearly  simultaneous  dis- 
covery of  the  art  of  printing,  which  led  to  a  rapid  and  indefinite 
multiplication  of  copies  of  the  Scriptures,  now  imposed  upon  despots 
the  double  task,  of  extertninating  the  living  teacher,  and  of  preventing 
the  circulation  of  tlie  printed  Bible.  Persecution  again  followed 
persecution,  until,  under  the  guidance  of  a  kind  Providence,  a  few 
of  the  advocates  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  fleeing  for  their  lives 
from  Europe,  Bible  in  hand,  found  a  refuge  in  the  new  world.  Here 
the  legitimate  fruits  of  Christianity,  when  untrammelled  by  the 
devices  of  men,  were  soon  developed,  and  the  American  Republic 
arose,  as  a  beacon  to  the  world,  teaching  what  a  Free  Christianity 
can  accomplish  for  mankind. 

In  the  mean  time  the  principles  of  religious  liberty  had  gained 
some  favor  in  a  few  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  produced  their 
appropriate  results,  though  in  a  more  limited  degree  than  in  the 
United  States,  because  religion  was  left  less  free.  And  thus  there 
was  a  progressive  movement  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  leading-  to 
a  higher  civilization  and  a  greater  sum  of  human  happiness  than  the 
older  systems  had  ever  produced,  or  than  has  yet  been  attained 
where  they  still  prevail. 

Near  the  close  of  the  last  century,  therefore,  the  contrast  could  be 
clearly  drawn  between  Paganism,  Mohammedanism,  a  Christianity 


Introduction.  8 

excluding  the  Bible  from  the  people  and  modeled  to  fetter  the 
freedom  of  thought  and  of  speech,  and  a  free  Christianity  taking  ihe 
Bible  alone  as  its  basis,  and,  without  the  intervention  of  any  human 
affent,  placing  the  soul  of  man  directly  in  communion  with  God. 
The  eftects  of  these  various  systems,  in  advancing  or  retarding  human 
happiness,  and  in  promoting  or  checking  civilization,  had  become 
so  manifest,  that  the  Christian  philanthropist,  acting  under  the  im- 
pulses of  the  law  of  love,  resolved  upon  giving  to  the  world  a  Free 
Christianity. 

It  is  unnecessary,  before  an  intellisent  audience,  to  enumerate  the 
obstacles  which  impede  the  progress  of  the  agents  employed  to  bestow 
a  Free  Christianity  upon  the  world,  with  the  view  of  securing  to 
mankind  a  higlier  civilization  and  increased  enjoyment  in  this  life,  as 
well  as  to  impart  to  the  hearts  of  men  the  hope  of  eternal  happiness 
in  the  world  to  come.  It  is  only  necessary  to  our  present  purpose 
to  say,  that,  in  all  tliese  efforts  there  has  been  no  tield  selected  which 
was  so  dark  and  unpromising,  and  none  that  so  long  baffled  all  exer- 
tions, and  so  utterly  failed  of  success,  as  that  of  Africa  previous  to  the 
colonization  of  its  coast  by  civilized  and  Chrisdan  colored  men.  The 
facts  in  relation  to  this  subject  were  fully  presented  in  our  lecture, 
one  year  ago,  in  this  hall.  It  is  there  shown  that  two  hundred  and 
forty  years  of  efibrt  by  the  Catholics,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  by 
Protestant  missionaries,  including  the  period  of  the  operations  of  our 
Liberia  Colony,  had  proved,  conclusively,  that  the  redemption  of 
Africa  from  barbarism  cannot  be  accomplished  by  white  men,  but 
that  colored  men  must  be  employed  in  that  vast  work  of  benevolence.. 
It  was  also  proved,  that  the  slave  trade,  after  the  expenditure,  by 
England,  of  more  than  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  for  its  sup- 
pression, instead  of  being  diminished  in  extent,  has  been  steadily  and 
rapidly  increasing;  and  that  the  conviction  is  forced  upon  the  public 
mind,  that  this  greatest  of  crimes  against  humanity  can  only  be  sup- 
pressed by  surrounding  the  coast  with  colonies  of  intelligent  colored 
men,  who  must  be  protected  and  sustained  by  Christian  governments 
until  the  civilization  of  the  native  population  can  be  effected. 

The  important  truth  being  ascertained,  that  the  agents  in  the  civili- 
zation of  Africa  must  be  men  of  African  blood,  the  great  question 
which  presses  itself  upon  the  consideration  of  the  philanthropist  and 
the  Christian,  is  this :  Where  can  we  obtain  colored  men  in  suffi- 
cient numbers,  who  are  properly  educated  and  enlightened,  and  who 
are  themselves  the  subjects  of  redeeming  grace,  to  act  as  agents  in 
bestowing  a  Christian  civilization  upon  Africa? 

To  answer  this  question,  is  a  prominent  object  of  the  present  lec- 
ture. But,  to  obtain  a  just  conception  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work 
that  lies  before  us,  it  becomes  necessary  to  determine  the  extent  and 
character  of  the  social  and  moral  evils  existing  in  Africa;  and  this  is 
the  more  necessary,  because  of  the  prevalence  of  the  opinion,  that  the 
degradation  of  Africa  is  chiefly  due  to  the  slave  trade.  Our  investi- 
gations, we  believe,  will  fully  sustain  the  truth  of  the  assertion,  thai 
even  if  it  were  possible  to  break  up  the  slave  trade  by  other  means 
than  colonization,  but  litde  would  be  gained  to  the  cause  of  humanity 
5 


6  Social  and  Moral  Condition  of  Africa. 

and  little  good  accomplished  for  Africa ;  and  that  if  the  benevolent 
designs  toward  the  African  race,  which  so  generally  prevail  among 
good  men,  be  executed,  there  must  be  a  union  of  effort  of  all  the  friends 
of  this  oppressed  people,  in  supporting  and  extending  the  work  of 
colonization  in  Africa ;  and  further,  that  the  United  States  is  placed 
in  such  a  peculiar  position,  as  clearly  to  indicate  that  we  alone,  of  all 
the  nations  in  tlie  world,  are  able  to  give  to  Africa  that  form  of  Chris- 
tianity and  of  civil  government  which  will  secure  to  her  the  high'^st 
degree  of  civilization  and  the  greatest  amount  of  prosperity.  The 
materials  collected  have  been  arranged  under  the  following  heads. 

I.  The  social  and  moral  condi^tion  of  Africa,  independent  of  the 

slave  trade. 
II.  The  modifications  produced  by  the  slave  trade  upon  the  social 
and  moral  condition  of  Africa. 
III.    The  reladon  which  the  slavery  of  the  United  States  bears  to 
the  recovery  of  Africa  from  barbarism. 

I.  The  earlier  travelers  in  Africa,  meeting  with  many  acts  of 
kindness,  formed  favorable  opinions  of  the  natives,  and  the  impression 
has  been  created,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  evils  oppressing  that 
country  have  had  their  origin  in  the  slave  trade,  and  are  not  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  her  own  social  and  moral  condition.  A  better 
acquaintance  with  the  state  of  the  interior  has  tended  to  correct  the 
first  impressions.  The  iron  despotism  of  their  kings,  the  absolute- 
ness of  their  domestic  slavery,  the  objects  of  their  idolatrous  worship, 
the  modes  of  performing  their  religious  rites,  the  cruel  superstitions 
existiuij  everywhere,  their  tlegrading  customs,  their  human  sacri- 
fices, their  cannibalism,  it  was  discovered,  must  have  dated  their 
origin  far  back  beyond  the  period  of  the  commencement  of  the  slave 
trade,  and  produced  the  most  debasing  eflects  upon  the  inhabitants. 
The  slave  trade,  it  was  evident,  had  not  originated  the  greater  evils 
under  which  Africa  groaned,  hut  tvas  itself  one  of  the  legitimate 
fruits  of  the  social  and  moral  degradation  previously  existing  and 
still  perpetuated  on  that  continent.  A  brief  statement  of  facts  will 
prove  the  accuracy  of  the  view  here  presented. 

AVhen  England,  in  1808,  prohibited  the  slave  trade,  it  was  antici- 
pated that,  as  this  traffic  diminished,  and  a  legitimate  commerce 
increased,  the  civilization  of  the  African  people  would  necessarily  be 
accomplished.  While  she  had  the  monopoly  of  the  slave  trade,  she 
had  erected  many  forts  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  on  declaring  it 
illegal  and  commencing  her  operations  for  its  suppression,  they  were 
immediately  transformed  into  trading  posts  for  opening  up  a  legal 
commerce  with  the  natives.  Tliis  change  of  policy,  requiring  many 
agents  to  reside  on  the  coast  and  to  visit  the  interior,  soon  made  the 
world  better  acquainted  with  Africa. 

As  the  power  of  Great  Britain  was  considered  almost  omnipotent, 
it  was  not  doubted  at  first,  but  that  the  slave  trade  would  be  annihi- 
lated through  her  influence  and  exertions,  and  the  consequent 
civilization   of  Africa   immediately    follow.      But   the  elements   oj 


Human  Sacrifices.  7 

civilization  were  not  then  so  well  understood  as  at  present.  It  was 
believed  that  to  extend  commerce  was  to  extend  civilization.  The 
commerce  conducted  between  the  eulii^htened  nations  of  Europe,  it 
was  known,  had  gready  promoted  their  civilization.  It  w\is  soon 
found,  however,  that  the  causes  of  African  degradation  lay  deeper 
than  had  been  conceived.  The  dift'erence  between  the  intellectual 
and  moral  capacities  of  the  civilized  and  uncivilized  man  was  found 
to  be  almost  infinite.  The  horrible  superstitions  by  which  the 
minds  of  the  people  of  Africa  had  been  darkened  and  bewildered 
must  first  be  eradicated  before  civilization  could  progress.  Com- 
merce, unaided,  it  was  soon  demonstrated,  could  not  accomplish  this 
work.  An  active  commerce  at  Cape  Messurado,  conducted  foi 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years,  had  failed  to  advance  the  natives  a 
single  step  toward  civilization.  Similar  results  had  followed  else- 
where. Barbarous  tribes,  then  as  now,  it  was  discovered,  were  in- 
capable of  comprehending  moral  truth  while  in  the  savage  state;  and 
could  only  be  brought  under  its  influence  by  a  careful  course  of 
moral  teaching.  But  the  appetites  and  passions  of  their  natures 
being  the  same  as  with  other  men,  commerce  unavoidably  imparled 
to  them  the  vices  of  civilizalion,  and  introduced  among  them  the 
elements  of  physical  destruction,  instead  of  planting  the  seeds  of 
morcd  renovation.  The  result  of  missionary  eflbrts  elsewhere,  had 
led  to  the  discovery  that  the  ligiit  of  the  gospel  must  be  let  into  the 
soul  before  the  darkness  of  heathenism,  in  which  it  was  shrouded, 
could  be  dissipated,  and  the  intellectual  and  moral  elevation  of  the 
people  be  promoted.  Christianity,  the  only  parent  of  a  pure  moral- 
ity, it  had  been  perceived,  was  the  primary  element  in  raising  men 
from  barbarism,  and  that  civilization,  industry,  and  commerce  were 
necessary  fruits  of  the  gospel  wherever  planted.  These  facts  being 
observed,  though  as  yet  but  dimly  and  by  few,  led  to  efforts  for  the 
intioduction  of  Christianity  into  Africa,  and  the  missionaries  thus 
employed  furnished  to  the  world  additional  light  upon  the  subject 
of  its  social  and  moral  condition.  The  establishment  of  colonies 
upon  the  coast  has  also  aflTorded  further  opportunities  of  investigation 
and  supplied  fuller  information  in  relation  to  the  terrible  moral  gloom 
overshadowing  Africa. 

It  is,  then,  from  the  investigations  of  British  agents,  travelers,  mis- 
sionaries and  colonists,  that  we  derive  our  facts  in  relation  to  the  social 
and  moral  condition  of  Africa. 

We  shall  begin  with  their  human  sacrifices.  According  to  their 
ideas,  the  future  world  will  be  a  counterpart  of  this  ;  will  present  the 
same  objects  to  the  senses,  the  same  enjoyments,  and  the  same  dis- 
tinction of  ranks  in  society.  Upon  this  belief  are  founded  proceed- 
ings not  only  absurd,  but  of  the  most  violent  and  atrocious  description. 
A  profusion  of  wealth  is  buried  in  the  grave  of  the  deceased,  who  is 
supposed  to  carry  it  into  the  other  world:  and  human  victims  are 
sacrificed,  often  in  whole  hecatombs,  under  the  delusion  that  they  wiU 
attend  as  his  guards  and  ministers  in  the  future  mansion.  This  sav- 
age superstition  seemJi  to  have  prevailed  to  a  peculiar  extent  in  those 


8  Human  Sacrifices. 

great  interior  monarchies,  which,  in  other  respects,  are  more  civilized 
than  the  rest  of  Western  Africa. 

The  Ashantees  have  two  annual  customs,  as  they  are  called,  says 
Mr.  Bowditch,  a  British  agent,  of  1819,  in  which  the  King,  and  chief 
men,  seek  to  propitiate  the  departed  spirits  of  their  ancestors,  by  the 
sacrifice  of  a  crowd  of  human  victims.  Foreign  slaves  and  criminals 
are  selected  in  preference,  but  as  each  seeks  to  multiply  the  number, 
unprotected  persons  cannot  walk  abroad  wiUiout  the  hazard  of  being' 
seized  and  immolated.  At  the  death  of  any  of  the  royal  family,  vic- 
tims must  bleed  in  thousands ;  and  the  same  is  the  case  when  the 
kino-  seeks  from  the  powers  above,  favorable  omens  respecting  any 
great  projected  undertaking.  On  the  death  of  the  king,  a  most  hor- 
rid scene  of  human  slaughter  takes  place  ;  all  the  sacrifices  that  had 
been  made  for  the  death  of  every  subject  during  his  reign  being 
required  to  be  repealed,  to  amplify  that  for  the  death  of  the  monarch, 
and  to  solemnize  it  in  every  excess  of  extravagance  and  barbarity. 
The  brothers,  sons,  and  nephews  of  the  king,  affecting  temporary 
insanity,  burst  forth  with  their  muskets,  and  fire  promiscuously  among 
the  crowd.  Few  persons  of  rank  dare  stir  from  their  houses  for  the 
first  two  or  three  days,  but  drive  forth  their  slaves  as  a  composition 
for  their  own  absence.  The  king's  household  slaves  are  all  murdered 
on  his  tomb,  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  or  more,  and  women  in  abun- 
dance. As  the  king  is  allowed  three  thousand  three  hundred  and 
thirty-three  wives,  and  as  the  immolation  of  the  wife  on  the  death  of 
the  husl)and  is  customary  in  Africa,  it  is  probable  that  many  of  the 
slaughtered  women  are  the  wives  of  the  king,  despatched  to  attend 
their  deceased  lord  in  another  world.  The  king  of  Ashantee,  other- 
wise a  very  amiable  and  benevolent  sovereign,  on  the  death  of  his 
mother,  says  Mr.  Bowditch,  devoted  three  thousand  victims  to  water 
her  grave,  two  thousand  of  whom  were  Fantee  prisoners,  and  the  rest 
levied  in  certain  proportions  on  the  several  towns. 

That  this  is  no  fabled  account  of  the  cruel  superstitions  of  Ashantee, 
is  evident  from  very  recent  testimony.  As  late  as  1844,  intelligence 
from  Liberia,  published  in  the  African  Repository,  states  that  at  the 
death  of  the  late  king,  one  thousand  human  victims  were  sacrificed. 

The  kingdom  of  D;diomey  is  governed  upon  the  same  system  as 
Ashantee,  and  with  all  its  deformities — which  it  carries  to  a  still  more 
violent  excess.  The  bloody  customs  take  place  on  a  still  gre.iier 
.S(  ale ;  and  the  bodies  of  the  victims,  says  Mr.  B.,  instead  of  being 
buried,  are  hung  upon  the  walls,  and  allowed  to  putrify.  Human 
skulls  make  the  favorite  ornament  of  the  palaces  and  temples,  and  the 
king  has  his  sleeping  apartment  paved  with  them. 

This  statement  is  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  J.  L. 
Wdson,  missionary  in  Western  Africa,  in  1839,  who  writes,  that 
"human  sacrifices  are  still  offered  in  great  numbers,  not  only  in  Ashan- 
tee, but  in  all  the  petty  principalities  of  the  surrounding  country. 
The  story  that  the  king  of  Dahomey  has  his  yard  paved  with  human 
skulls  is  no  fable.  There  are  Europeans  on  the  coast  who  have  seen 
it,  and  can  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  the  statement." 

Governor  Abson,  of  Cape  Coast  Castle,  visited  the  king  of  Dahomey 


Human  Sacrifices.  9 

at  a  time  when  six  slave  ships  were  at  Whydah,  anxious  to  make 
purchases,  and  when,  owing  to  tlie  scarcity  of  slaves,  the  prices  had 
risen  to  nearly  thirty  pounds.  But  such  was  the  strength  of  super- 
stition over  avarice,  that  the  king  refused  to  sell  his  prisoners  to  the 
slave  traders,  preferring  to  put  them  to  death  for  their  skulls,  in  the 
contemplation  of  which  the  people  seemed  to  take  a  horrible  delight. 
When  the  governor  inquired  of  the  king,  if  his  going  to  war  was  not 
to  obtain  captives  to  sell  to  the  slave  traders,  he  replied,  "  I  have 
killed  many  thousands  without  thinking  of  the  slave  market,  aisd 
shall  kill  many  thousands  more.  Some  heads  I  place  at  my  door, 
others  1  throw  into  the  market  place,  that  people  may  stumble  over 
them.  This  gives  a  grandeur  to  my  customs ;  this  makes  my  ene- 
mies fear  me  ;  and  this  pleases  my  ancestors,  to  whom  I  send  them. 
Dahomeans  do  not  make  war  to  make  slaves,  but  to  make  prisoners 
to  kill  at  the  customs." 

The  king  of  Dahomey  used  to  hold  a  constant  communication  with 
his  deceased  father.  VVhenever  he  wished  to  announce  to  him  any 
remarkable  event,  or  to  consult  him  on  any  emergency,  he  would  send 
for  one  of  his  ablest  messengers,  and  after  delivering  to  him  his  errand, 
chop  off"  his  head.  It  sometimes  happened,  that  after  the  head  was 
off",  he  recollected  sometliing  else  whicli  he  wished  to  say,  in  which 
case  a  second  messenger  was  dispatched,  in  like  manner,  with  a  post- 
script to  his  former  message.  Gov.  Abson  was  present  on  an  occa- 
sion of  this  kind.  The  poor  fellow  selected  for  the  honor  of  bearing 
his  majesty's  message,  aware  of  what  was  to  happen,  declared  he  was 
unacquainted  with  the  road,  on  which  the  tyrant,  drawing  his  sword, 
vociferated,  "I'll  show  you  tlie  way,"  and  with  one  blow  severed 
his  head  from  his  body — highly  indignant  that  an  European  should 
have  witnessed  the  least  expression  of  reluctance  in  the  performance 
of  a  duty  which  is  considered  a  great  honor. 

Such  seems  to  have  been  the  inefficiency  of  British  arrangements 
on  the  coast,  at  the  period  when  Mr.  Bowditch  visited  Africa;  and 
such  the  want  of  moral  influence  exerted  by  the  residents  over  the 
natives,  that  Sir  James  Yeo  informed  the  conmiittee  of  African  mer- 
chants, that  the  impotence  of  their  outposts  were  such,  that  they 
could  not  even  prevent  the  off'ering  of  human  sacrifices  under  their 
walls.  Two  victims,  says  Mr.  B.,  had  been  sacrificed,  with  the  most 
refined  barbarity,  in  broad  day,  close  to  the  fort  of  Accra. 

Human  sacrifices,  on  a  more  limited  scale,  seem  to  be  of  common 
occurrence.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Schon,  of  the  English  Church  Missionary 
Society,  who  accompanied  the  Niger  Expedition  in  1843,  says  that 
human  sacrifices  are  offered  by  the  Ibo  people,  residing  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Niger.  The  usual  modes 
of  destroying  life  are  to  fasten  tlie  victims  to  the  branches  of  trees 
close  to  the  river  and  leave  them  to  famish,  or  to  tie  their  legs  together 
and  drag  them  from  place  to  place  until  they  expire,  when  the  bodies 
are  cast  into  the  river  to  be  devoured  by  alligators.  In  a  tour  of 
exploration  along  the  coast,  in  1839,  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson  says, 
"  We  were  informed  that  only  a  few  days  previous  to  our  arrival,  a 
neighboring  chief  had,  in  consequence  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which 


10  Human  Sacrifices. 

was  regarded  as  ominous  of  approaching  calamity,  buried  several  ot 
his  subjects  alive;  and  it  was  not  known  liow  many  more  would  be 
subjected  lo  the  same  fate." 

On  the  gold  coast,  the  shark  is  worshipped  by  the  iiiliabitants. 
Every  year,  says  Dr.  Porter,  the  inhabitants  of  Bonney  doom  a  guilt- 
less child  to  expiate,  with  its  life,  the  follies  and  crimes  of  its  destroy- 
ers. The  poor  babe  is  named  for  this  bloody  rite  at  its  birth,  from 
which  time  it  is  called  their  Jewjew,  and  allowed  every  indulgence 
that  its  fancy  can  wish  for,  until  it  arrives  at  nine  or  ten  years  of  age, 
v/hen  its  sanguinary  doom  must  be  fulfilled.  Its  tears  and  lamenta- 
tions avail  not;  its  parents  have  placed  their  feelings  of  nature  on  the 
altar  of  a  mistaken  devotion  ;  it  is  therefore  left  alone  to  plead  witii 
those  that  hope  lo  benefit  by  its  destruction.  Tiie  sharks  collect  as 
if  in  expectation  of  the  dainty  meal  being  prepared  for  them.  The 
spot  chosen  is  a  point  of  sand,  into  whic-h  a  stake  is  driven  at  low 
water  mark.  The  mother  sees  her  innocent  offspring  bound  to  this, 
and  as  the  tide  advances,  left  alone.  Various  noises  are  made  to 
drown  the  cries  of  the  terrified  child.  Its  little  hands  are  seen  im- 
ploring, and  its  lips  calling  for  her  aid  ;  the  water  soon  reaches  the 
stake,  and  the  greedy  monsters  are  seen  by  the  lender  victim  quickly 
approaching  with  the  deepening  tide.  The  shouting  mob  stand 
watching  the  stake  until  the  advancing  tide  has  emboldened  the  sh;irks 
to  approach  their  prey — then  their  dreadful  revelry  begins.  No  tear 
is  shed  for  the  poor  sufferer,  but  the  day  is  concluded  with  rejoicing 
and  festivities. 

But  we  will  only  trespass  upon  your  patience  so  far  as  to  present  one 
more  case  under  this  part  of  our  investigations.  The  Liberia  Lumi- 
nary, of  1848,  gives  an  account  of  the  sacrifice  of  a  human  being,  a 
short  time  previous,  under  circumstances  which  prove  that  there  is 
no  abatement  of  the  power  of  superstition  over  men's  minds  in  Africa, 
where  the  light  of  the  gospel  has  not  been  reflected. 

A  famous  Goulah  chief,  anxious  for  success  in  a  military  campnign 
upon  which  he  was  setting  out  against  the  Condoes,  applied  to  a  Ma- 
hommedan  priest  to  know  what  he  should  do  to  insure  success.  The 
priest  inquired  of  him  whether  he  was  able  to  make  the  necessary 
sacrifice,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  could  make  any  sacrifice  that 
could  be  named.  The  nefarious  imposter  then  told  him  he  must  sac- 
rifice his  son!  and,  taking  his  dead  body  upon  his  shoulders,  his  feet 
swung  around  his  neck,  and  his  head  hung  behind  him,  in  this  man- 
ner advance  before  his  troops  to  the  contest,  and  victory  would  he 
certain  ! !  The  directions  were  complied  with.  Calling  his  son  inio 
a  house,  he  caught  him,  deliberately  tied  him,  and  tlien,  with  his  own 
parental  hand,  he  cut  his  throat!  Having  oflered  this  sacrifice,  he 
and  his  troops  prepared  to  advance  toward  the  jurisdiction  of  their 
enemies  ;  then  was  this  inhuman  father  seen  with  his  dead  son  on  his 
back,  in  the  manner  directed,  without  any  display  of  parental  affec- 
tion or  of  emotion,  save  that  aroused  in  his  barbarous  breast  by  the 
confident  expectation  of  victory.  Being  successful  in  three  subse- 
quent engagements,  this  horrible  sacrifice  will,  no  doubt,  be  hereafter 
considered  as  the  sure  precursor  of  victory. 


Idolatry.  II 

Such  was  African  superstition  in  1848,  and  such  will  it  continue 
to  be  until  Christianity  dispels  the  gloom  which  overcasts  the  native 
mind. 

We  turn  now  to  African  Idolatry.  The  native  Africans,  generally, 
have  very  oliscure  conceptions  of  the  nature  and  attributes  of  God 
and  of  a'future  state  of  moral  retribution;  while  almost  every  super- 
stition tiiat  can  degrade  the  himian  mind  reigns  in  full  sway. 

To  express  generally  what  is  sacred,  wiiat  is  forbidden,  what  is 
endowed  with  supernatural  powers,  either  beneficent  or  malignant, 
Ihey  employ  the  term  fetiche  or  gri-gri.  Everything  which  strikes 
tiie  fancy  of  a  negro  is  made  his  fetiche.  This  word  is  derived 
either  from  tiie  Portugese  word  feti.sso,  a  block  adored  as  an  idol,  or 
from  feficzeira,  an  enchantress.  The  Portuguese  gave  the  name  to 
the  idols  of  the  negroes  on  the  Senegal,  and  afterward  the  word 
received  a  more  extensive  meaning.  'I'he  general  signification  now 
given  io  fetiche,  seems  to  be,  an  object  worshipped,  not  representing 
any  living  figure.  The  grand  natural  fetiches  are  rocks,  hills,  or  trees 
of  remarkable  size  and  beauty.  But  there  are  fantastic  objects  of 
veneration,  which  each  individual  adopts  and  carries  about  with  him. 
Such  are  a  piece  of  ornamented  wood,  the  teeth  of  a  dog,  tiger,  or 
elephant,  a  goal's  head,  a  fish  bone,  or  the  end  of  a  ram's  horn.  They 
believe  the  material  substances  which  they  worship  to  be  endowed 
with  intelligence,  and  the  power  of  doing  them  good  or  evil :  and  also 
that  the  felichere,  or  priest,  being  in  council  with  their  fetiche,  is 
made  acquainted  with  all  that  those  divinities  know,  and  thence  is 
familiar  with  the  most  secret  thoughts  and  actions  of  men.  The 
household,  or  family  fetiche,  narrowly  inspects  the  conduct  of  every 
individual  in  the  house,  and  rewards  or  punishes  each  according  to  his 
deserts.  The  public  fetiches  are  supposed  to  be  equally  watchful 
over  community  in  general. 

These  fetiches  they  set  up  in  the  houses,  the  fields,  or  the  entrance 
and  center  of  the  villages,  erect  altars  to  them,  and  place  before  them 
dishes  of  rice,  maize,  and  fruits.  The  better  sort  of  families  have 
weekly  festivals  on  which  they  sacrifice  a  cock  or  sheep.  This 
gri-gri  or  fetiche  worship  is  universal,  and  hours  would  not  suflSce  to 
detail  the  particulars  connected  with  it,  or  the  debasing  influence 
which  it  exerts  over  the  mind.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Schon  found  it  prac- 
ticed far  up  the  Niger.  He  says,  1843,  "They  showed  me  their 
gods.  Un"der  a  small  shade  erected  before  almost  every  house, 
among  the  people  of  Iddah,  were  broken  pots,  pieces  of  yams, 
feathers  of  fowls,  horns  of  animals,  broken  bows  and  arrows,  knives 
and  spears.  Such  are  their  gods  1  It  is  easy  to  attack  them  or  to 
expose  them  to  ridicule,  but  not  so  easy  to  eradicate  the  supejstiiious 
belief  in  them  from  out  of  the  hearts  of  men." 

The  framing  of  these  fantastic  objects  of  African  worship,  conse- 
crating them,  and  selling  them  at  enormous  prices,  forms  the  chief 
occupation  of  the  African  priesthood.  Various  are  the  expedients 
resorted  to  by  these  priests,  or  gri-gri  men,  to  obtain  presents  from 
the  people,  by  operating  on  their  superstitious  notions.     One  mode  is 


13  JJevil  TVorskip. 

by  teaching  that  food  must  be  placed  at  the  graves  of  the  dead  for  the 
deceased  person.  The  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson  visited  one  town,  where 
the  bones  of  the  deceased  king,  who  had  been  dead  many  years,  have 
been  enclosed  in  a  box,  and  deposited  in  a  house  appropriated  exclu- 
sively for  this  purpose.  Fresh  food,  water,  and  every  comfort  which 
a  living  man  could  wish,  are  daily  deposited  in  the  house.  These 
provisions,  the  people  are  told  by  a  gri-gri  man.,  who  statedly  visited 
the  place  to  hold  converse  with  the  dece.ised  majesty,  are  devoured 
by  the  king.  Mr.  Wilson,  after  some  difficulty,  obtained  leave  to 
enter  this  sacred  place,  through  the  small  opening  affording  admit- 
tance, and  found  a  bed,  chairs,  table,  &c.,  used,  no  doubt,  by  the 
superintending  priest  during  his  visits. 

But  in  addition  to  the  fetiche  idol  worship,  idolatry  of  the  more 
common  form  among  pagans,  seems  also  to  be  practised  in  Africa. 

In  1833,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schon  wrote  the  Church  Missionary  Soci- 
ety, from  Sierra  Leone,  that  he  had  been  assured  that  idol  worship 
was  practised  in  the  town,  but  that  those  engaged  in  it,  desired  to 
evade  detection.  Seeing  a  number  of  people  surrounding  a  house, 
he  went  to  the  spot  and  found  indications  convincing  him  that  some 
idolatrous  ceremonies  were  being  conducted  within  doors.  Attempt- 
ing to  enter,  he  was  repulsed.  Returning  some  time  afterward,  in 
company  with  another  missionary,  and  removing  a  little  of  the 
thatching,  he  looked  in  and  beheld  ten  or  twelve  women  prostrated 
before  a  hideous  idol.  Finding  themselves  discovered,  the  natives 
were  thrown  into  the  greatest  confusion,  and  opening  the  door, 
allowed  the  missionaries  to  enter.  The  mere  view,  says  Mr. 
Schon,  was  sufficient  to  fill  the  mind  with  horror.  The  large 
idol  actually  represented  the  devil,  with  a  blood-stained  face  and 
two  horns.  Before  him  stood  a  water  pot  half  filled  with  the  blood 
of  animals  that  were  sacrificed  to  him.  In  another  corner  of  the 
room  were  smaller  idols  and  gri-gris,  lying  and  hanging  in  great 
number;  and  fowls,  which  were  sacrificed  to  them,  were  lying  in  their 
blood  on  the  floor  of  the  room. 

Another  peculiar  form  of  the  African  supersdtion  is  their  Devil- 
worship.  The  people  cherish  the  general  belief  of  a  future  state, 
little  connected,  however,  with  any  idea  of  moral  retribution.  The 
question  is,  whether  they  have  faithfully  observed  the  promise  made 
to  the  fetiche.  They  uniformly,  says  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson,  ascribe 
the  works  of  creation  to  God,  but  regard  the  devil  as  the  author  of 
all  providence.  Hence  will  be  seen  at  every  entrance  into  their 
towns,  a  gri-gri  pole,  with  a  rag  upon  it,  or  something  of  the  kind, 
either  to  prevent  his  entrance,  or  conciHate  his  favor.  They  never 
open  trade  on  board  of  a  ship,  without  pouring  a  libation  of  rum 
mto  the  water,  as  a  portion  with  which  the  devil  is  particularly 
pleased. 

riie  Rev,  Mr.  Wynkoop  states,  that  at  all  the  entrances  in  the 
enclosure,  or  roads  to  the  town,  are  small  houses  called  the  grand 
devil-house,  where  the  people  deposite  different  articles  in  them  to 
conciliate  his  dreaded  majesty.  These  presents,  of  course,  form  a 
part  of  the  perquisites  of  the  priests. 


Witchcrafl.  Ml 

Dr.  A.  C.  Wilson,  writing  from  the  station  at  Fishtown,  1S40, 
says,  "  Today  tliere  was  a  bullock,  sacrificed  to  conciliate  the  devil, 
asking  those  favors  of  him  that  should  be  asked  of  God,  and  giving 
him  the  honor  which  belongs  to  Jehovah  alone." 

The  God  whom  the  Africans  are  supposed  to  worship,  says  Dr. 
McDowell,  who  spent  some  time  at  the  colonies,  has  been  called  the 
"  devil,''  by  European  visitors.  The  place  selected  for  the  perform- 
ance of  the  mysteries  connected  with  his  worship,  is  in  the  center 
of  some  thick  forest,  called  the  gii-gri  bush,  or  devil-bush.  The 
influence  which  it  is  made  to  exercise  over  the  people  generally,  is 
partly  superstitious,  partly  political.  The  chiefs  or  head  men  meet 
once  a  month,  and  oiler  goats  or  other  animals,  as  a  sacrifice  to  this 
evil  being  or  devil.  Into  this  sacred  forest  no  woman  or  boy  is 
allowed  to  intrude,  the  penalty  being  death,  foreign  slavery,  or  a  fine. 
The  young  freemen  of  the  tribe  are  initiated  into  manhood  by  being 
taken  into  the  devil  bush,  where  they  are  shown  a  wooden  cross 
erected,  and  a  loud  hoarse  voice  addresses  them  from  the  deep 
recesses  of  the  wood,  telling  them  certain  things  they  must  not  do, 
upon  the  penalty  of  being  seized  by  the  evil  demon,  or  spirit,  and 
hung  upon  the  cross  to  be  an  example  to  others.  These  instruc- 
tions, as  might  have  been  expected,  are  of  a  purely  seltish  character, 
having  reference  to  themselves  and  their  own  tribe. 

After  any  one  has  been  initiated  into  these  gri-gri  mysteries,  and 
offends  the  chiefs,  ihey  are  liable  to  be  taken  into  the  devil-bush, 
from  which  they  never  return.  Nor  dare  any  one  ask,  "•  Where  is 
he  ?"  "  The  devil  has  taken  him,"  ends  all  further  inquiry  or  hope, 
and  his  friends  must  not  mourn  for  him.  If  a  chief  suffers  in  this 
way,  his  people  and  his  wives  must  suffer  along  with  him,  unless  by 
timely  notice  from  the  priest,  they  desert  the  doomed  one,  and  attach 
themselves  to  another  chief  or  tribe  before  the  arrival  of  the  day  of 
execution. 

When  Bob  Gray,  chief  at  Grand  Bassa,  sold  the  devil-bush,  which 
now  forms  a  part  of  the  settlement  of  Edina,  to  the  Agent  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  the  whole  surrounding  tribes  were 
about  to  arm  against  him  for  his  impiety,  and  he  had  to  pay  a  heavy 
fine,  as  well  as  solicit  the  protection  of  the  colony  to  save  his  head. 

The  Methodist  church  now  stands  not  far  from  the  spot  where  the 
blood  of  the  victims  of  their  superstition  and  cruelty  has  flowed  pro- 
fusely. Many  a  wretch  has  been  dragged  into  the  depths  of  that 
forest  gloom  never  to  return. 

The  superstitions  of  the  African  tribes  seem  to  be  the  operation 
of  a  wild  veneration  manifested  in  the  form  of  vague  fears  of  some 
evil  influence  being  continually  impending  over  them,  which  they  try 
to  obviate  by  the  performance  of  some  ridiculous  mummeries,  and 
suspending  round  their  persons  their  gri-gris.  Out  of  this  feeling 
arses  the  common  belief  in  ff'itchcrafl,  and  the  overwhelming  super- 
stitious credulity  which  everywhere  prevails,  affording  to  the  priests 
immense  power  over  the  inhabitants.  Dark  and  magical  rites, 
numberless   incantations    and    barbarous    customs,   are   continually 


14  Witchcraft. 

practised,  and  in  the  power  of  which  the  people  liave  unbounded 
confidence;  and  such  is  their  influence  upon  the  general  mind,  that 
they  are  accompanied  by  all  the  terrors  that  the  dread  of  a  malio-nant 
being  and  the  fear  of  unknown  evil  can  invest  them. 

In  the  attempts  to  bewitch  anyone,  the  usual  mode  of  operation  is 
said  to  be,  to  take  a  gourd  or  vessel,  containing,  among  other  ingredi- 
ents, a  combination  of  different  colored  rags,  cats'  teeth,  parrots' 
featliers,  toads'  feet,  eggshells,  fishbones,  snakes'  teeth,  and  liz- 
zards'  tails.  This  is  secretly  placed  near  the  dwelling  of  the  person 
intended  to  be  brought  under  its  influence,  and  upon  whom  the  ope- 
rator wishes  to  inflict  an  injury.  Terror  immediately  seizes  the 
individual,  and  either  by  resigning  liiniself  to  despair,  or  by  the 
secret  communication  of  poison,  in  most  cases,  death  is  the  inevitable 
consequence. 

Upon  the  death  of  any  one,  therefore,  suspicion  is  excited  that  he 
has  been  bewitched  or  poisoned,  by  some  one,  and  the  friends  inva- 
riably institute  an  inquiry  into  the  question  of  who  had  ''made 
witch,'''  for  the  deceased.  The  power  of  determining  this  question 
rests  with  their  priests,  and  of  course  constitutes  one  of  the  chief 
sources  of  their  influence  over  the  people.  The  instances  of  cruelty 
growing  out  of  these  trials  are  frequent  and  horrible,  A  certain 
number  of  witnesses  are  selected,  and  every  individual  who  can  be 
an  object  of  suspicion  is  required  to  plunge  his  hand  into  a  pot  of 
boiling  oil.  If  innocent,  it  is  alleged,  he  sufl'ers  no  pain;  if  guilty, 
his  hand  is  severely  burnt.  Should  the  person  thus  found  guilty, 
assert  his  innocence,  he  is  subjected  to  another,  and  what  everybody 
regards  as  a  sure  and  infallible  test,  that  is  to  swallow  a  strong  and 
large  potation  of  sass-tvood.  It  either  produces  death,  or  violent  and 
distressing  vomiting.  The  quantity  of  the  tea,  says  the  Rev,  J.  L. 
Wilson,  1836,  that  is  given  to  the  man,  when  his  accusers  are  bent 
on  his  destruction,  is  altogether  incredible — enough,  were  there  no 
poisonous  qualities  in  it,  to  destroy  the  life  of  any  one.  Several 
deaths  occurred  from  this  practice,  near  Mr,  Wilson's  station,  but 
he  finally  succeeded  in  putting  a  stop  to  such  glaring  injustice  and 
cruelty. 

But  this  cruel  mode  of  trial  is  still  prevalent  outside  of  the  colonies 
and  mission  stations.  The  journal  of  the  Rev,  Mr.  Payne,  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Mission,  Dec,  9,  1848,  records  the  death  of 
three  women,  in  rapid  succession,  from  this  ordeal,  who  had  been 
accused  of  causing  the  death  of  a  man  wounded  in  battle.  Upon 
Mr.  Payne  remonstrating  strongly  and  endeavoring  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  work  of  death,  tjie  chief  accosted  him  thus  :  "  Payne,  what 
kind  of  a  man  are  you  ?  We  are  trying  to  rid  ourselves  of  the 
witches  who  have  caused  our  late  reverses,  and  you  are  angry  ? 
We  verily  thought  the  deya,  who  declared  these  women  to  be 
\vitches,  lied;  but,  behold,  on  trial,  all  prove  guilty!!"  "Alas," 
adds  Mr,  Payne,  "for  a  bloody  superstition  which  receives  new 
strength  from  every  additional  victim !  Help  Lord,  for  vain  is  the 
help  of  man." 

Tlie  cases  arising  under  this  means  of  detecting  supposed  crim- 


Polygamy.  15 

inals  are  numerous,  one  only,  in  addition,  will  be  presented.  The 
Liberia  Herald,  1844,  says,  "Directly  after  the  death  of  King  Shaka, 
of  the  Galliuas,  a  secret  inquisition  was  set  on  foot  to  ferret  out  the 
witch-man.  For  a  long  time  the  search  was  fruitless  ;  at  length  a 
gri-gri  man,  by  continued  incantations  and  daring  diabolical  com- 
munications, succeeded,  and  the  hapless  regicide  was  brDUght  to 
light.  Confronted  widi  his  accuser,  lie  protested  that  he  was  inno- 
cent— the  doctor  protested  he  was  guilty,  and  the  all-discovering 
ordeal  was  resorted  to,  to  decide  the  question.  Of  course  the  man 
was  condemned  to  die,  and  as  King  Shaka  was  big  king  too  much — 
the  severity  of  the  punishment  was  proportioned  to  the  dignity  of 
the  deceased.  Sentence  was  pronounced  and  thus  executed — the 
man  was  taken  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  his  tongue  cut  out,  and  he 
thrown  alive  to  the  sharks. 

"This  ordeal,"  continues  the  Herald,  "is  a  most  powerful  engine 
of  state  policy  in  Africa.  It  is  the  right  arm  of  an  African  monarch. 
He  has  only  to  keep  on  terms  with  tlie  doctors  or  gri-gri  men,  who 
are  the  constituted  inquisitors,  and  nothing  is  easier  than  to  rid  him- 
self, at  any  time,  of  a  dangerous  or  aspiring  subject.  Whether  the 
ordeal  be  the  sassy  water,  the  boiling  oil,  or  the  heated  iron,  they 
are  never  at  a  loss  for  means  to  produce  any  result  they  wish.  If  it 
be  the  first  process,  they  weaken  or  strengthen  the  decoction,  and 
increase  or  lessen  the  quantity  so  as  to  render  it  innocent  or  fatal, 
just  as  interest  or  inclination  may  lead.  If  the  second  or  third,  they 
can,  by  previous  application  of  some  preparation  to  the  part  to  be 
operated  upon,  enable  it,  for  a  short  time,  to  resist  the  effect  of  heat; 
and  then,  by  hurrying  the  ordeal,  the  accused  escapes  unscathed. 
If  tliey  conclude  to  murder  the  victim,  they  reverse  the  operation, 
and  guilt  is  as  clear  as  noonday.  Thus  this  system  puts  the  life  of 
the  whole  community  in  the  hands  of  this  class  of  men,  and  renders 
it  a  formidable  fraternity  of  conjurers." 

Polygamy,  says  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson,  1834,  is  universal.  A 
man's  importance  in  society  is  according  to  the  number  of  his  wives. 
These  are  regarded  as  his  property,  and  in  reality  are  his  servants. 
They  are  usually  purchased  at  a  very  early  age.  One  of  the  wives 
in  any  family  is  the  mistress  of  the  others,  and  is  honored  by  them 
as  such.  They  are  all  in  strict  subjection  to  their  husbands,  and  not 
unfrequenUy  are  severely  chastised  for  the  slightest  offense.  The 
women  perform  all  the  drudgery.  At  the  age  of  about  twelve  the 
females  are  taken  to  the  devil-bush,  and  retained  for  something  like 
two  years.  They  are  under  the  care  of  the  grand  devil-man,  who, 
at  stated  times,  rushes  out  into  the  midst  of  lliem,  and  utters  his  ora- 
cles. They  are  induced  to  believe  that  he  is  a  supernatural  being, 
and  his  dress  and  manner  both  confirm  it.  So  far  as  the  object  of  this 
continement  could  be  learned,  it  was  to  prepare  them  for  the  duties 
of  life — one  of  the  chief  of  which  is  to  make  a  full  and  unreserved 
communication  of  everything  they  may  know  to  their  husbands. 

In  1839,  Mr.  Burgess,  writing  from  Zanzibar,  on  the  east  coast  of 
Africa,  says,  "That  in  all  the  tribes  bigamy  was  common.  No 
sacredness  was  attached  to  the  marriage  relation.     They  retain  their 


16  Slavery. 

wives  as  long  as  they  are  pleased  with  them,  and  then  sell  them.  In 
some  tribes  one  man  would  have  from  one  to  twenty  wives.  The 
Manonioisies  sometimes  have  as  high  as  eighty.  Wives  are  bought 
and  sold.  The  females  do  the  work ;  men  work  till  they  obtain 
wherewith  to  buy  a  wife,  then  work  no  more,  only  trade  and  fiaht." 

It  has  been  stated  already,  that  the  king  of  Ashantee,  1819,  kept 
three  tliousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  wives.  All  the  female 
sex  is  considered  as  at  the  king's  disposal,  says  Mr.  Bowditch,  and 
an  annual  assemblage  takes  place,  when,  having  made  a  large  selec- 
tion for  himself,  he  distributes  the  remainder  among  his  grandees, 
who  are  bound  to  receive  them  with  the  humblest  gratitude. 

The  number  of  wives  possessed  by  the  king  of  Dahomey  equalled 
those  of  the  king  of  Ashantee.  The  stoutest  of  them,  says  Mr. 
Bowditch,  were  enrolled  into  a  military  regiment,  regularly  traineu 
to  the  use  of  arms,  under  a  female  general  and  subordinate  officers: 
and  according  to  the  testimony  of  several  Europeans,  went  through 
the  exercise  with  great  precision.  Governor  Abson  was  present 
at  Abomey  when  the  king  marched  against  the  Eyoes,  on  wiiich 
occasion  he  was  attended  by  a  body  guard  of  eight  hundred  women. 

English  papers,  for  May,  1849,  brought  us  some  details  of  recent 
negotiations  by  an  English  agent,  with  the  king  of  Dahomey,  fiom 
which  we  learn  that  the  number  of  his  armed  women  is  near  six 
thousand  at  present.  They  constitute  his  body  guard,  and  never 
leave  him,  and  are  answerable  for  the  safely  of  his  person. 

It  was  the  boast  of  the  king  of  Eyeo,  that  his  queens,  linked  hand 
in  hand,  would  reach  from  one  end  of  the  kingdom  to  the  other. 
These  women,  says  Mr.  Houditch,  act  as  the  king's  body-guards, 
perform  the  most  menial  (dlices,  and  are  seen  in  every  pan  of  the 
kingdom,  carrying  on  their  heads  heavy  burdens  from  place  to  place, 
favored  only  with  an  exemption  from  ordinary  toil. 

But  we  need  not  multiply  quotations.  p]nough  is  given  to  prove 
that  one  of  the  greatest  evils  which  can  mar  the  social  condition  of 
any  people — polygamy — prevails  to  a  vastly  greater  extent  in  Africa 
than  in  any  other  portion  of  the  world. 

Next  in  order  comes  the  domestic  slavery  of  Africa.  In  addition 
to  the  degrading  customs  and  cruel  superstititins,  which  cannot 
have  had  their  origin  in  the  slave  trade,  slavery,  to  a  frightful 
extent,  exists  in  Africa,  and  the  wars  and  demoralization  prod  need 
by  ambition  or  the  hope  of  making  prisoners,  for  slaves,  and  to 
secure  plunder,  would  still  continue  if  slavery  in  all  the  world 
beside  were  abolished.  On  this  subject  the  materials  are  ample, 
but  we  must  limit  ourselves  to  some  of  the  more  prominent  facts. 
This  view  was  forced  upon  the  mind  of  Burkhnrdt,  the  African 
traveler,  who,  on  concluding  his  labors,  says,  "Europe  will  have 
done  but  liitle  for  the  blacks,  if  the  abolition  of  the  Atlantic  slave 
trade,  which  is  trifling  compared  with  the  slavery  of  the  interior,  is 
not  followed  up  by  some  wise  and  grand  plan,  tending  to  the  civil- 
ization of  the  continent." 

Mr.  Burgess,  writing  from  Zanzibar,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa. 


Slavery.  IT 

says  that  "slavery  is  common  in  all  the  tribes.  They  buy  their 
own  people.     Some  Manomoisies  own  four  or  five  hundred  slaves." 

Major  Denham,  the  English  traveler,  states,  that  on  the  occasion 
of  the  marriage  of  the  shiek  of  Bornou  with  the  daughter  of  the  sultan 
of  Mandara,  a  combined  expedition  was  sent  against  the  Musgow 
nation,  which,  after  a  desperate  struggle,  brought  in  three  thousand 
slaves  ;  and  the  nuptials  were  celebrated  with  barbaric  pomp,  fur- 
nished out  of  the  tears  and  captivity  of  so  many  victims." 

The  Major  further  states,  that,  "  For  the  last  eight  years  the  shiek 
of  Bornou  has  carried  on  a  very  desperate  and  bloody  war  with  the 
sultan  of  Begharmi,  who  governs  a  powerful  and  warlike  people, 
inhabiting  a  very  large  tract  of  country  south  of  Bornou,  and  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Shary.  Although  meeting  with  some  reverses, 
and  on  one  occasion  losing  his  eldest  son  in  the  wars,  who  was 
greatly  beloved  by  tlie  people,  he  has,  upon  the  whole,  been  success- 
ful ;  and  is  said  to  have,  from  the  first  to  the  last,  destroyed  and  led 
into  slavery  more  than  thirty  thousand  of  the  sultan  of  Begharmi's 
subjects,  besides  burning  his  towns  and  driving  oft' his  flocks." 

Kano,  the  capital  of  a  province  of  the  same  name,  and  one  of  the 
principal  towns  of  the  kingdom  of  Soudain,  has  a  population  of  from 
thirty  to  forty  thousand  inhabitants.  Of  these,  according  to  Captain 
Clapperton,  who  visited  it,  more  than  half  are  slaves.  The  sale 
and  purchase  of  slaves  is  as  common  as  the  sale  or  transfer  of  any 
other  species  of  property.  He  describes  the  slave  market  as  very 
extensive. 

Even  the  wives  of  the  kings,  as  already  stated,  are  no  better  than 
slaves,  in  the  common  and  harshest  acceptation  of  the  word ;  and  as 
the  pomp  of  the  sovereign  consists  principally  in  the  multitude  of 
his  wives,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  the  numbers  of  one  class  alone  who 
are  reduced  to  servitude. 

Dr.  Goheen,  the  very  intelligent  and  successful  physician  to  the 
African  mission  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United 
States,  after  more  than  a  year's  residence  in  Liberia,  thus  writes: 

"  Slavery  in  the  United  States,  in  its  worst  form,  and  under  the 
lash,  is  not  as  bad  as  slavery  here  in  its  mildest  form.  It  is  a  well 
known  truth,  that  in  Western  Africa  nine-tenlhs  of  the  whole  popu- 
lation are  in  a  state  of  slavery.  The  females  are  all  sold  at  an  early 
age,  to  be,  when  they  grow  up,  wives,  or  beasts  of  burden,  as  their 
proprietors  may  require.  If  the  majority  here  were  not  slaves,  how 
would  they  ever  get  into  the  foreign  slave  dealers'  hands  ?  They 
are  sent  in  hundreds  from  the  interior  to  the  slave-factories  and  sold. 
They  are  not  deprived  of  their  liberty  when  they  leave  these  shores — 
they  only  change  masters.  Slaves  they  are,  and  such  they  have 
been  to  the  most  savage  rulers,  who  inflict  upon  them  the  severest 
punishments,  and  feel  free  to  kill,  to  eat,  or  to  throw  them  alive  upon 
the  funeral  pile,  at  pleasure.  Slavery  in  the  United  States,  though 
an  evil,  cannot  possibly  be  as  great  a  one  as  it  is  here.  Here  is  the 
country  where  slavery,  with  all  its  legitimate  and  concomitant  hor- 
rors exists.  Africa  is  the  mother  that  clings  to  it  as  her  only,  her 
dearest  ofl^spring.     And  here  is  the  country  so  deeply  dyed  in  the 


18  Tyranny,  Cruelties,  Wars. 

sin  of  slavery  as  to  require  all  the  Abolitionists  and  all  the  Coloniza- 
tionists,  and  their  united  means  and  labors  for  centuries,  in  clearing 
its  skirts  and  removing  the  foul  stains  that  make  her  the  prize  money 
of  other  nations." 

The  testimony  in  relation  to  the  domestic  slavery  of  Africa  might 
be  gready  amplified,  and  the  truth  of  the  proposition,  that  it  would 
continue,  though  slavery  in  all  the  world  beside  were  abolished,  be 
more  fully  proved,  but  what  has  already  been  presented  is  deemed 
quite  sufficient  for  our  purpose. 

The  evils  arising  from  the  tyranny,  cruelties,  and  ivars  of  Africa, 
have  been  incidentally  presented,  in  the  course  of  our  investigations, 
and  we  shall  not  dwell  upon  them  at  length,  thougli  volumes  might 
be  filled  with  details  of  the  most  shocking  character. 

Tlie  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson,  1839,  says,  "Only  a  few  years  since,  the 
king  of  Ashantee  sent  the  governor  of  Cape  Coast  sixty  jaw  hones 
of  human  victims  which  he  had  killed,  as  an  evidence  of  his  despotic 
power,  thinking  at  the  same  time  it  would  prove  to  be  a  present  of 
great  value.  The  king  of  Ashantee  thinks  as  little  of  taking  oft'  the 
heads  of  his  subjects  as  those  of  his  chickens." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Shrewsbury,  an  English  missionary  in  South 
Africa,  1829,  thus  describes  a  native  chief,  recently  deceased.  "His 
cruelties  almost  exceeded  belief;  he  rioted  in  blood ;  and  never  had 
higher  enjoyment  than  when  killing  his  own  subjects.  When  his 
mother  died,  immense  numbers  of  his  people  were  summoned  to- 
gether to  weep,  and  the  mourning  was  appointed  to  continue  three 
days  and  nights.  Every  artifice  was  made  use  of  to  provoke  sorrow, 
and  cause  the  tears  to  flow ;  but  it  was  impossible  for  the  multitude 
to  continue  weeping  constantly ;  and  yet,  when  any  one  did  not  shed 
what  the  tyrant  considered  a  sufiicient  quantity  of  tears,  he  was  in- 
stantly despatched  for  want  of  aiTection  to  his  mother's  memory.  In 
the  course  of  those  three  days  three  hundred  persons  are  said  to  have 
been  put  to  death.  And  whenever  a  man  was  killed,  his  wife  or 
wives,  and  all  his  children  were  destroyed  on  the  same  day." 

Tlie  Rev.  Mr.  Champion,  missionary  in  King  Dingaan's  country, 
South  Africa,  says,  1836,  "The  king  holds  his  eminence  by  many 
customs  that  are  in  vogue.  He  eats  the  first  green  corn,  and  at  the 
celebration  calls  all  the  nation  together  to  dance  before  him.  Sugar- 
cane, sweet  potatoes,  and  such  like,  are  cultivated  and  reserved  for  the 
king.  No  one  can  sit  in  a  chair  but  the  king.  One  of  his  captains 
was  here  not  long  since,  who  was  afraid  even  to  sit  on  a  box,  lest  he 
should  resemble  the  king.  Blankets,  except  the  very  meanest  de- 
scription, are  royal  ones.  For  the  common  people  to  obtain  and 
wear  them  would  be  instant  death.  Anything  at  all  fine  goes  to  the 
king,  and  for  others  to  wear  or  use  them  is  to  aspire  to  be  like  the 
king.  The  ivory  comes  all  to  the  king,  and  for  this  purpose  he 
sends  out  many  men  to  hunt  elephants.  With  the  teeth  he  obtains 
of  the  whites  presents  of  beads,  cloths,  &c.,  which  he  bestows  on 
his  immense  family  and  his  favorite  captains.  When  they  return  from 
war,  all  the  cattle  are  driven  to  the  chief  town  as  the  king's  property. 


Tyranny,  Cruelties,  Wars.  19 

Some  he  bestows  on  the  brave  and  on  his  generals,  but  the  many  are 
reserved  to  increase  his  immense  herds  and  for  slaughter. 

"  He  has  another  stern  grasp  on  his  people,  in  that  punishment 
which  is  inflicted  for  small  as  well  as  great  offenses.  A  word  that 
bears  in  any  way  against  the  king,  or  is  suspected  even,  and  the  die 
is  cast,  the  man  is  counted  for  dead.  A  captain  is  killed,  and  often 
his  family  and  dependents  follow  him.  The  king  wishes  perhaps 
to  sliow  his  power,  and  to  see  spoils  coming  in  from  slaughter,  and 
he  sends,  as  lately,  and  in  one  night,  after  by  stratagem  he  had  col- 
lected all  at  home,  cuts  off  a  rich  country  of  his  own  tribe  or  his  own 
subjects. 

"  Cases  of  individuals  put  to  death  are  almost  always  occurring. 
The  people  are  shy  to  t;ilk  about  the  subject,  after  they  have  told 
you  it  was  by  order  of  the  king.  It  is  almost  always  because  they 
are  alleged  to  have  done  sometliing  wrong,  but  where  or  when,  no 
one  knows;  only  \vhen  reasoned  into  a  corner,  they  say  the  king 
knows.  Always  it  is,  yes,  father,  it  is  all  right — when  even  son, 
mother,  father,  or  brother  is  slain." 

Infanticide  of  a  peculiar  nature  prevails  in  Africa:  twins  are  never 
allowed  to  live.  As  soon  as  they  are  born,  they  are  put  into  two 
earthen  pots  and  exposed  to  beasts  of  the  forest ;  and  the  unfortunate 
mother  ever  afterward  endures  great  trouble  and  hardships. 

The  exposure  of  tlie  aged  and  infirm,  says  Mr.  Moffat,  after  they 
are  incapable  of  supporting  themselves,  is  common.  They  are  left 
in  desert  places,  with  an  allowance  of  food  and  water  to  subsist  them 
for  a  time,  after  which,  if  not  sooner  devoured  by  beasts  of  prey, 
they  are  suffered  to  perish  of  hunger. 

"Another  sanguinary  custom  grows  out  of  the  superstitious  vene- 
ration of  the  Atricaiis  for  the  shark.  The  person  upon  whom  suspi- 
cion of  crime  has  fallen,  is  ordered  by  the  king  to  swim  across  the 
river,  when,  if  innocent,  he  is  expected  to  arrive  safe  upon  the  other 
side  ;  but  if  otherwise,  the  sharks  are  to  have  him  for  breakfast. 
The  trial  takes  place,  says  Dr.  Porter,  before  his  majesty  and  an 
immense  concourse  of  people;  the  suspected  person  is  brought  forth 
and  forced  into  the  river,  when  the  poor  victim  makes  every  exertion 
to  reach  the  destined  goal,  but,  strange  to  say,  the  king  has  never  yet 
left  the  beach  without  being  fully  convinced  of  the  truth  of  his  sus- 
picions, as  no  instance  is  on  record  of  the  sharks  ever  allowing  him 
to  be  in  the  wrong." 

The  testimony  already  adduced,  proves  that  many  of  the  sanguinary 
wars  of  Africa  have  their  origin  in  other  causes  than  the  stimulus  fur- 
nished by  the  slave  trade.  Were  additional  testimony  needed  in 
proof  of  this  point,  much  is  afforded  in  Moffat's  Southern  Africa. 
The  writer,  long  a  resident  missionary,  and  an  active  agent  in  many 
of  the  scenes  described,  has  given  the  world  a  work  of  great  interest 
and  value.  The  army  of  forty  thousand  Mantatees,  who  approached 
and  attacked  the  tribes  in  which  Mr.  Moffat  was  laboring,  were 
themselves  refugees,  robbed  of  their  cattle  and  driven  from  their 
homes,  by  superior  force,  and  compelled,  in  turn,  to  rob  others,  that 
they  themselves  might  live.     Having  heard  that  there  were  immense 


20  Canrdbalism. 

flocks  of  sheep  at  the  English  colony  at  the  Cape,  which  they  wished 
to  possess,  they  were  fighting  their  way  in  that  direction,  when 
compelled  to  change  their  course  by  the  valor  of  the  better  armed 
forces  which  they  encountered.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  had  any 
connection  whatever  with  the  slave  trade. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Philip  says,  that  king  Moselekatse,  who  had  de- 
scended on  the  thickly-peopled  regions  of  the  north,  like  a  sweeping 
pestilence,  capturing  thousands  of  slaves,  and  leaving  in  his  course 
nothing  but  dilapidated  walls  and  heaps  of  rubbish,  mingled  with 
human  bones  aud  skulls,  had  never  traded  in  slaves.  The  cruelties 
of  the  Matebele  nation,  of  which  Moselekatse  was  king,  is  thus 
depicted  by  Mr.  Moffat,  and  will  furnish  an  appropriate  conclusion 
to  these  investigations.  "Nothing  less  than  the  entire  subjugation, 
or  destruction  of  the  vanquished,  could  quench  their  insatiable  thirst 
for  power.  Thus,  when  they  conquered  a  town,  the  terrified  inhab- 
itants were  driven  in  a  mass  to  the  outskirts,  when  the  parents  and 
all  the  married  women  were  slaughtered  on  the  spot.  Such  as  had 
dared  to  be  brave  in  the  defense  of  their  town,  their  wives  and  their 
children,  were  reserved  for  a  still  more  terrible  death  ;  dry  grass, 
saturated  with  fat,  was  tied  around  their  naked  bodies  and  then  set  on 
fire.  The  youths  and  girls  were  loaded  as  beasts  of  burden,  with 
the  spoils  of  the  town,  to  be  marched  to  the  homes  of  their  victors. 
If  the  town  was  in  an  isolated  position,  the  helpless  infants  were  left 
to  perish  either  with  hunger,  or  to  be  destroyed  by  beasts  of  prey. 
On  such  an  event  the  lions  scent  the  slain  and  leave  their  lair;  the 
hyenas  and  jackalls  emerge  from  their  lurking  places  in  broad  day, 
and  revel  in  the  carnage;  while  a  cloud  of  vultures  may  be  seen,  de- 
scending on  the  living  and  the  dead,  and  holding  a  carnival  on  human 
flesh.  Should  a  suspicion  arise  in  the  savage  bosom  that  these 
helpless  innocents  may  fall  into  the  hands  of  friends,  they  will  pre- 
vent this  by  collecting  them  into  a  fold,  and  after  raising  over  them 
a  pile  of  brushwood,  apply  the  flaming  torch  to  it,  when  the  town, 
but  lately  the  scene  of  mirth,  becomes  a  heap  of  ashes." 

In  relation  to  the  cannibalism  of  Africa,  a  subject  so  revolting,  we 
will  not  be  expected  to  give  many  details.  Of  the  existence  of  this 
practice  there  can  be  no  doubt.  The  annual  report  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  1828,  contains  the  following  statement: 

"The  most  fierce  and  atrocious  conflicts,  instigated  by  slave 
traders,  have  prevailed  during  the  last  two  years,  among  the  tribes  in 
the  vicinity  of  Monrovia.  The  crime  of  cannibalism,  shocking,  it 
may  be  supposed,  even  to  barbarous  natures,  has  been  perpetrated 
during  these  wars.  On  the  capture  of  a  small  town  among  the  Go- 
rahs  by  the  Deys,  thirty  victims  were  sacrificed  to  this  detestable 
practice." 

Many  are  the  witnesses  who  have  borne  testimony  to  the  general 
prevalence  of  cannibalism  over  large  districts  of  Africa.  Very  recent 
reports  of  scientific  exploring  companies  sent  out  from  France,  also 
give  suflicient  evidence  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  previous  reports, 
leaving  us  under  the  painful  necessity  of  believing  that  all  that  has 
been  said  of  cannibalism  in  Africa  is  true. — See  Appendix. 


The  Slave  Trade.  21 

As  stated  in  the  outset,  the  object  of  the  investigations  of  the  sub- 
jects coming  under  our  first  head,  has  been  to  show  the  true  state  of 
Africa's  social  and  moral  condition,  independent  of  the  slave  trade ; 
and  to  prove  that  even  if  it  were  possible  to  break  up  tliat  tratlic  by 
other  means  than  colonization,  but  litde  would  be  gained  to  the  cause 
of  humanity  and  little  good  accomplished  for  Africa.  And  have  we 
not  succeeded  ?  Have  not  facts  enough  been  given,  to  prove  that 
Africa's  degradation  is  complete — that  if  the  slave  trade  were  this 
hour  annihilated,  and  all  the  evils  which  we  have  enumerated  as 
not  dependent  upon  the  slave  trade  still  existing,  the  social  and 
moral  condition  of  that  continent  would  demand  the  utmost  efforts 
of  Christians  everywhere  for  its  recovery  from  the  horrors  of 
barbarism. 

It  might,  by  some,  have  been  supposed  that  the  catalogue  of  woes 
oppressing  Africa,  ajid  belonging  legitimately  to  herself,  were 
enough  to  atone  for  her  iniquities.  But  no :  such  heaven-daring 
violations  of  divine  law,  such  impious  disregard  of  the  principles  of 
justice  and  humanity,  could  not  escape  the  indignation  of  the 
Almighty.  The  sufferings  of  wicked  men,  the  consequence  of  their 
own  transgressions,  ca7i  never  make  atonement  for  their  sins.  There 
is  no  principle  of  God's  moral  government  of  nations,  that  will  per- 
mit the  stay  of  execution  of  judgment  for  transgression,  but  upon 
repentance.  Africa  had  not  repented,  but  was  adding  iniquity  unto 
iniquity.  Justice,  therefore,  cried  for  vengeance,  and  the  slave  traders, 
resembling  more  the  demons  of  the  lowest  pit  tlian  men,  were  let 
loose  upon  this  doomed  people,  to  involve  the  oppressor  and  the 
oppressed  in  one  common  ruin. 

We  shall  see,  however,  before  we  close,  that  mercy  ivas  mingled 
with  judgment.  And  we  shall  find  that  in  the  history  of  the  African 
slave  trade,  and  the  events  connected  with  it,  we  have  another  illus- 
tration of  the  truth  of  the  proposition,  that  when  God  has  designs  of 
mercy  toward  a  wicked  people,  the  judgments  with  which  he  visits 
them  for  their  sins,  are  adapted  to  secure  their  repentance  and  lead 
them  back  to  Himself. 

n.  The  Modifications  which  have  been  produced  on  the  Social  and 
Moral  Condition  of  Africa  by  the  Slave  Trade. 

Until  introduced  by  the  Moors,  it  appears  that  the  trading  in  slaves 
was  little  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  interior  of  Africa.  The 
prisoners  taken  in  battle  were  reduced  to  slavery  by  the  captors,  and 
formed  the  marriage  portions  given  to  their  children.  It  seems  that, 
in  general,  they  were  humanely  treated,  excepting  when  the  cruelties 
of  their  superstitions  led  to  opposite  results.  It  is,  says  Denham  and 
Clapperton,  to  the  pernicious  principles  of  the  Moorish  traders,  whose 
avaricious  brutality  is  beyond  all  belief,  that  the  traffic  for  slaves  in 
the  interior  of  Africa  not  only  owes  its  origin,  but  its  continuance. 
The  eagerness  of  the  interior  population  to  possess  the  alluring  articles 
of  merchandize  offered,  tempted  them  to  sell  their  slaves,  while  the 
enormous  profits  on  their  sale,  in  the  cities  along  the  Mediterranean, 
6 


?.2  The  Slave  Trade. 

caused  the  Moorish  traders  to  refuse  to  receive  anything  in  exchange 
for  their  goods  but  sbives. 

On  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  as  briefly  detailed  in  our  former 
lecture,  the  slave  trade  was  commenced  by  the  Portuguese.  For  a 
long  series  of  years  tlie  supply  was  obtained  by  forcibly  seizing  t!ie 
natives,  and  confining  them  on  board  their  vessels,  until  a  suflicient 
number  for  a  cargo  were  obtained.  This  practice,  though  inconsid- 
erable at  its  commencement,  became  general,  says  Rees'  Cyclopa^cUa, 
and  was  prosecuted  by  Portuguese,  Spaniards,  French,  English, 
Dutch,  &c.  The  wretched  inhabitants  were  thus  driven  from  the 
coast  and  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  the  interior.  But  the  Euro- 
peans still  pursued  them,  entering  their  rivers,  and  thus  penetrating 
the  heart  of  the  country.  Tlie  increased  demand  for  slaves,  how- 
ever, soon  became  so  great  as  to  require  a  less  precarious  mode  of 
securing  a  supply.  Accordingly,  forts  and  factories  were  established, 
merchandize  landed,  and  endeavors  made,  by  a  peaceable  deportment, 
by  presents,  and  by  every  appearance  of  munificence,  to  allure  the 
attachment  and  confidence  of  the  Africans. 

These  traffickers  were  not  long  in  discovering  the  chiefs  or  kings 
of  the  African  tribes,  and  making  treaties  of  peace  and  commerce,  by 
which  it  was  agreed  that  prisoners  of  war  and  convicts  for  crimes 
should  be  sentenced  to  European  servitude ;  and  that  the  Europeans 
should,  in  return,  supply  the  kings  with  the  luxuries  of  the  north. 
These  treaties  were  immediately  carried  into  efl^ect,  and  the  terrible 
consequences  which  might  have  been  anticipated  were  soon  developed. 
Indee'd,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  tliat  the  results  were  foreseen  by 
the  traders,  and  this  scheme  of  extending  their  operations,  seemingly 
under  the  sanctions  of  justice,  was  thrown  before  the  world,  in  this 
plausible  form,  to  prevent  the  indignant  frown  of  public  sentiment 
from  prohibiting  the  further  prosecution  of  the  traffic  in  slaves. 

The  number  of  persons  convicted  of  crimes,  fell  so  far  short  of  the 
wants  of  the  slave  traders,  that  other  means  had  to  be  adopted  to  aug- 
ment their  numbers.  Not  only  those  fairly  convicted  of  crime  were 
now  sentenced  to  slavery,  but  even  those  who  were  suspected ;  and 
with  regard  to  prisoners  of  war,  they  delivered  into  slavery,  not  only 
those  who  were  taken  in  a  state  of  public  enmity  and  injustice,  but 
those  also  who  were  taken  in  the  arbitrary  skirmishes  of  the  venal 
sovereigns  of  Africa.  Wars  were  made  among  the  tribes  near  the 
coast,  not  as  formerly,  from  motives  of  retaliation  and  defense,  or 
from  love  of  conquest,  but  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  prisoners  alone, 
and  the  advantages  resulting  from  the  sale  of  them.  When  a  Euro- 
pean ship  came  in  sight,  this  was  considered  as  a  motive  for  war,  and 
a  signal  for  the  commencement  of  hostilities.  The  despotic  sove- 
reigns of  Africa,  influenced  by  the  venal  motives  of  European  traffic, 
first  made  war  upon  the  neighboring  tribes  in  the  violation  of  every 
principle  of  justice;  and  if  they  did  not  thus  succeed  in  their  main 
object,  they  turned  their  arms  against  their  own  subjects.  The  first 
villages  at  which  they  arrived  were  immediately  surrounded,  and 
afterward  set  on  fire;  and  the  wretched  inhabitants  seized,  as  they 
were  escaping  from  the  flames. 


The  Slave  Trade.  83 

In  a  few  years  the  traffic  in  slaves  became  systematizetl,  and  the 
residents  remaining  along  the  coast  became  the  regular  agents  between 
the  slave  merchants  and  the  tribes  in  the  interior,  who  were  better 
able  to  procure  slaves  to  send  to  the  ports  where  they  were  in  de- 
mand. The  slave  trade  was  thus  gradually  extended  from  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  coasts  into  the  interior,  by  Europeans,  as  it  had  been  from 
the  Mediterranean  by  the  Moors,  and  it  has  been  no  uncommon 
occurrence  for  the  slaves  sold  to  the  traders  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  to 
have  been  brought  from  the  interior  a  distance  of  700  miles. 

The  influence  of  this  horrible  traffic  upon  Africa  was  most  perni- 
cious. Deplorable  as  was  the  social  condition  of  her  people,  inde- 
pendent of  the  slave  trade,  it  would  seem,  at  first  view,  to  have  been 
rendered  infinitely  worse  by  it. 

On  this  occasion,  however,  time  will  not  allow  us  to  present  the 
wide  range  of  facts  which  we  have  been  able  to  collect  upon  this 
branch  of  our  subject.  At  present  we  can  only  remark,  that  from  the 
testimony  of  many  witnesses — embracing  travelers  in  Africa,  and 
missionaries,  and  colonists — it  appears  that  the  slave  trade,  besides 
vastly  aggravating  some  of  the  social  evils  previously  existing,  and 
greatly  multiplying  the  causes  of  war  among  the  difTerent  tribes,  has 
exerted  a  paralyzing  efl^ect  upon  the  little  agricultural  industry  which 
previously  existed  ;  and  that  there  is  less  of  social  happiness  and  less 
of  personal  enjoyment  in  the  districts  where  the  traffic  prevails,.. than 
in  the  interior  where  its  influence  has  not  so  fully  reached  ;  and  fur- 
ther, that  the  king  of  Dahomey  is  at  present  largely  engaged  in  sup- 
plying the  slave  traders  with  slaves,  amounting  to  the  number  of 
30,000  annually,  to  obtain  which  he  makes  annual  slave  hunts,  the 
dangers  of  which  he  himself  shares. 

One  case  only  we  shall  present,  and  of  recent  occurrence,  to  afford 
an  idea  of  the  cruelties  practised  at  the  depots  for  slaves  on  the  coast, 
where  they  are  collected  for  transportation ;  and  to  present  a  well- 
attested  account  of  the  horrible  atrocities  to  which  the  slave  trade 
leads  those  who  are  enlisted  in  it. 

In  July,  1842,  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson  visited  a  slave  factory  on  the 
Gaboon,  to  inspect  its  condition.  On  his  arrival  at  the  gate  of  the 
barracoon,  which  was  an  enclosure  of  more  than  an  acre,  the  slaves 
were  talking  and  laughing  cheerfully,  but  the  moment  the  gate  opened, 
tlie  most  profound  silence  ensued,  and  they  became  terrified,  suppos- 
ing that  a  victim  was  to  be  selected  to  be  eaten.  Among  the  slaves 
were  persons  of  both  sexes,  from  five  to  forty  years  of  age,  not  one 
of  the  number  having  any  covering.  Most  of  the  men  were  fastened 
two  and  two,  one  ankle  of  each  being  fettered.  The  women,  girls, 
and  half-grown  boys  were  made  secure  by  a  brass  ring  encircling  the 
neck,  through  which  a  chain  passed,  grouping  them  together  in  com- 
panies of  forty  or  fifty  each.  Boys  and  girls  under  ten  years  of  age 
were  left  unshackled.  The  poor  wretches  had  to  sleep  on  bamboo 
platforms  arranged  round  the  building,  without  any  covering  to  protect 
them  from  the  cold  and  the  musquitoes,  both  of  which  were  intolera- 
ble to  persons  in  their  situation  at  that  season  of  the  year. 

"  But  there   was  one  company   which  particularly  arrested   my 


24  The  Slave  Trade. 

attention — affected  my  heart.  It  was  made  up  of  mothers  who  had 
recently  been  bereft  of  their  children.  How  they  came  to  be  chained 
together,  I  cannot  tell,  unless  tlieir  keepers,  yielding  to  what  they 
considered  an  innocent  and  harmless  desire,  allowed  them  to  be  drawn 
together  by  their  sympathies  and  sorrows. 

"Their  owner  knew,  perhaps,  what  had  become  of  their  children, 
but  he  was  unaffected  by  the  reminiscence.  Not  so  with  them. 
Their  countenances  indicated  an  intensity  of  anguish  that  cannot  be 
described.  Though  heathen  mothers,  a  flame  had  been  kindled  in 
their  hearts  which  no  calamity  could  extinguish. 

"  When  infants  are  born  in  the  barracoon,  or  when  they  are  brought 
there  with  their  mothers — because  it  is  inconvenient  to  keep  them  in 
the  factory,  and  almost  impossible  to  carry  them  across  the  ocean — 
they  are  subjected  to  a  premature  and  violent  death.  I  speak 
advisedly,  when  I  aflirm,  that  this  is  a  common  occurrence  in  the  ope- 
rations of  the  slave  trade ;  and  it  was  in  this  way,  I  was  credibly 
informed,  that  these  sorrowing  females  had  been  sundered  from  their 
offspring.  *  *  *  I  left  the  barracoon  with  my  curiosity  amply- 
satisfied,  and  with  emotions  which  will  never  allow  me  to  visit 
another." 

The  horrors  of  the  middle  passage,  as  the  transportation  of  the 
slaves  from  the  ports  in  Africa,  to  the  countries  where  they  are  sold, 
is  called,  are  so  well  known  to  every  reading  man,  ihat  I  shall  only 
present  one  instance  of  the  revelations  made  by  the  capture  of  a 
slaver,  with  the  view  of  affording  an  idea  of  the  capacity  of  our  Libe- 
ria colony  to  receive  and  provide  for  emigrants  who  may  land  upon 
its  territory. 

The  Pons,  a  slave  ship  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  was  captured  by  an 
American  vessel,  in  December,  1845,  and  her  cargo  of  slaves  landed 
at  Monrovia,  and  provided  for  by  the  Liberians.  She  had  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  slaves  on  board,  eighteen  of  whom  died  daring  the 
night  after  the  capture.  The  vessel  had  no  slave  decks,  and  these 
poor  wretches  were  almost  literally  piled  in  bulk  on  the  water  casks 
below.  As  the  ship  appeared  to  be  less  than  three  hundred  tons,  it 
seemed  impossible  that  one-half  could  have  lived  to  cross  the  Atlantic. 
Forty-five  or  fifty  of  the  number  were  females,  who  were  confined  in 
the  round-house  cabin  on  deck.  Notwithstanding  this  crowded  state 
of  the  vessel,  it  had  been  the  intention  of  the  captain  to  take  on  board 
an  additional  four  hundred  slaves.  The  stench  from  below  was  so 
great,  says  Capt.  Bell,  that  it  was  impossible  to  stand  more  than  a  few 
moments  near  the  hatchways.  The  men  who  went  below  from  ouri- 
o?ity,  were  forced  up  sick  in  a  few  minutes,  when  all  the  hatcties 
were  off.  What  must  have  been  the  sufferings  of  these  poor  slaves 
when  the  hatches  were  closed?  "I  am  informed,"  says  Capt.  Bell, 
"  that  very  often,  in  these  cases,  the  stronger  will  strangle  the  weaker  ; 
and  that  this  was  probably  the  reason  so  many  died,  or  rather  were 
found  dead,  on  the  morning  after  the  capture.  None  but  an  eye  wit- 
ness can  form  a  conception  of  the  horrors  these  poor  creatures  endure 
in  their  transit  across  the  ocean." 

The  vessel  was  fourteen  days  in  reaching  Monrovia,  during  which 


The  Slave  Trade.  29 

time  one  hundred  and  fifty  died.  "When  they  were  landed,"  says 
the  Liberia  Herald,  "  nearly  the  whole  population  collected  on  the 
beach  to  witness  the  siglit.  The  colonists,  with  the  exception  of  a 
very  few,  had  never  witnessed  such  a  spectacle  before.  The  slaves 
were  nuich  emaciated,  and  so  debilitated  that  many  of  them  found 
difficulty  in  getting  out  of  the  boats.  Such  a  spectacle  of  misery  and 
wretchedness,  inflicted  by  a  lawless  and  ferocious  cupidity,  so  ex- 
cited our  people  that  it  became  unsafe  for  the  captain  of  the  slaver, 
who  had  come  to  look  on,  to  remain  at  the  beach.  Eight  .slaves 
died  in  the  harbor  the  day  before  they  were  landed.  The  prize 
master  says,  as  soon  as  a  slave  became  helpless  through  debility  or 
sickness,  those  nearest  would  throttle  him,  in  order  that  his  body 
removed,  they  would  have  more  room.  They  were  all,  men  and 
women,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  called  headmen,  landed 
in  a  state  of  perfect  nudity  !  " 

Dr.  Lugenbeel,  the  United  States'  agent,  immediately  put  them  all 
out  among  the  people  of  Liberia  as  apprentices.  The  Methodist 
mission  took  charge  of  eighty  boys  and  twenty  girls.  The  education 
of  many  of  them  has  been  progressing  well,  and  a  number  of  them 
are  at  present,  1849,  members  of  the  church,  and  rejoicing  in  the 
faith  of  the  gospel.  Oh  what  a  kind  Providence  to  turn  the  captivity 
of  these  poor  creatures  into  a  blessing  of  inestimable  value  ! 

Since  the  employment  of  a  naval  force  on  the  coast  for  the  capture 
of  slavers,  many  expedients  are  adopted  by  the  heartless  villians  en- 
gaged in  the  slave  trade  to  escape  detection.  One  instance  only 
need  be  noticed  to  give  a  true  idea  of  the  recklessness  of  life  which 
prevails.  In  1830,  Captain  Homans,  having  taken  on  board  six 
hundred  slaves,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  set  sail  for  Cuba,  found  him- 
self about  being  surrounded  by  four  cruizers  who  had  watched  his 
movements.  Favored  by  the  darkness  of  the  night,  which  soon  set 
in,  he  extended  a  heavy  chain  cable  around  his  vessel  outside  the 
railing,  with  a  ponderous  anchor  attached,  and  bringing  his  slaves  one 
by  one  on  deck,  by  means  of  their  handcufls  of  iron  he  fastened 
them  to  the  cable.  The  penwork  of  the  hold  and  every  thing  that 
could  create  suspicion,  was  also  brought  on  deck,  bound  in  matting 
well  filled  with  shot,  and  thrown  overboard.  The  cable,  by  a  single 
blow  of  the  axe,  was  then  cut  loose,  a  heavy  plunge  was  heard  as  the 
anchor  reached  the  water,  and  a  crash  as  the  cable  fell  off  the  side, 
above  which  arose  one  terrible  shriek — it  was  the  last  cry  of  the 
murdered  Africans.  One  moment  more,  and  all  was  still.  Six  hun- 
dred human  beings  had  gone  down  with  that  anchor  and  chain  into 
the  depths  of  the  ocean.  Two  hours  after  daylight  the  captain  was 
overhauled.  There  was  no  evidence  that  his  vessel  was  a  slaver, 
and  her  captors  were  obliged  to  let  her  pass. 

We  have  said  that  the  slave  trade  did  not  originate  the  degradation 
into  which  Africa  has  been  sunk,  but  that,  though  it  aggravated  many 
existing  evils,  and  introduced  some  new  elements  of  woe,  by  arousing 
the  cupidity  of  the  inhabitants,  ye/  it  urns  itself  onli^  a  h git imute fruit 
of  the  social  and  moral  degradation  previously  e.risting  on  that 
continent.     Listen  to  the  reasons  upon  which  we  base  our  opinion. 


26  The  Slave  Trade. 

Africa,  sunk  in  the  gloom  of  the  darkest  superstitions  known  to 
the  world,  and  neglecting  all  that  industry  which  creates  a  surplus 
of  products  to  constitute  the  elements  of  a  legitimate  commerce, 
and  whicli  secures  to  nations  those  comforts  and  luxuries  not  pro- 
duced in  their  own  latitudes ;  when  an  intercourse  with  civilized 
countries  was  opened  up,  had  not  an  adequate  supply  of  agricultural 
fruits,  or  mineral  wealth,  to  exchange  for  the  European  commodities 
of  which  she  found  herself  in  want.  This  neglect  of  necessary  lahor 
on  her  own  soil,  which  was  so  well  adapted  to  yield  abundaudy  the 
tropical  products  then  beginning  to  be  in  demand  in  civilized  coun- 
tries, left  her  but  one  resource  to  secure  the  articles  she  desired — 
and  that  resource  was  the  srlling  of  human  JJesh!  Alas,  for  poor 
Africa !  Human  flesh  was  the  only  commodity  which  she  could 
supply,  in  sufficient  quantity,  to  the  commerce  of  the  world.  No 
proposition  is  more  susceptible  of  demonstration  than  this,  that  the 
slave  trade  is  a  legitimate  fruit  of  Africa's  degradation.  Had 
she  not  rejected  the  gospel  which  once  blessed  her,  and,  as  a  neces- 
sary consequence,  lost  her  industry  and  sunk  into  barbarism,  she 
would  not  have  been  under  the  necessity  of  selling  her  children,  nor 
would  it  have  been  possible  to  have  persuaded  her  to  adopt  a  measure 
so  unnatural,  so  cruel,  so  inhuman,  so  infernal,  aud  fraught  with  such 
a  deluge  of  woe.  And  there  is  but  one  way  of  suppressing  the  evils 
under  which  Africa  groans,  and  that  is,  to  restore  to  her  that  blessed 
gospel  which  she  rejected,  and  that  industry  which  she  lost;  and 
then,  the  causes  creating  the  slave  trade  being  removed,  that  traf- 
fic itself  must  necessarily  be  annihilated,  and  Africa  permanently 
redeemed. 

Had  tirne  allowed  the  presentation  of  all  the  testimony  collected 
in  reference  to  the  modifications  produced  upon  the  social  and  moral 
condition  of  Africa  by  the  slave  trade,  the  picture,  though  dark 
indeed,  would  have  been  faint  when  compared  with  the  sad  reality, 
and  limited  when  contrasted  with  the  vast  extent  of  that  traffic  and 
the  agonizing  sufl'erings  which  are  its  attendants.  The  slave  trade, 
it  will  be  perceived,  had  no  tendency  to  check  or  suppress  the 
domestic  slavery  of  Africa,  but  made  its  perpetuation  of  greater  im- 
portance as  furnishing  a  principal  means  of  keeping  up  die  traffic 
with  the  slave  trader.  It  has  done  nothing  to  break  down  the  idola- 
try, the  devil-worship,  the  witchcraft,  the  tyranny,  and  cruelties  of 
Africa,  which  have  deeply  degraded  her,  but  has  left  these  all  un- 
chano-ed.  The  tropical  cultivation  employing  slave  labor,  makes  a 
demand  upon  Africa  chiefly  for  males,  and  thus  the  slave  trade, 
leaving  an  excess  of  females  in  that  country,  has,  no  doubt,  increased 
polygamy,  and  the  miseries  growing  out  of  that  social  evil.  The 
slave  trade  did  not  originate  the  sanguinary  wars  of  the  powerful 
kings  of  the  interior,  who,  actuated  by  ambition  of  conquest,  or  love 
of  plunder,  laid  waste  the  weaker  nations  that  surrounded  thein, 
strewing  the  earth  with  their  corpses,  that  they  might  decorate  tlieir 
rude  halls  with  skulls;  but  it  has  greatly  multiplied  the  petty  feuds 
of  smaller  tribes  and  led  the  larger  ones  to  make  regular  slave  hunts, 
to  supply  the  increasing  demand  for  slave  labor.     And  though  the 


Religious  Views  of  the  Pilgrims.  27 

slave  trade,  by  awakening  the  passion  of  avarice  into  a  predominance 
over  that  of  superstition,  may  have  limited  the  number  of  human 
sacrifices,  it  was  but  to  prolong'  a  life  that  it  might  be  subjected  to 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  foreign  slavery. 

And  thus,  while  the  social  and  moral  condition  of  Africa,  inde- 
pendent of  the  slave  trade,  was  truly  deplorable,  and  sufficient  to 
i"ouse  to  action  every  man  whose  heart  can  sympathize  with  human 
suiFeriiig,  the  slave  trade  rendered  its  condition  still  more  dismal, 
making  the  call  upon  the  Christian  world  for  relief  still  more  urgent. 

III.  The  relation  which  the  slavery  of  the  United  States  bears  to 
tlie  recovery  of  Africa  from  Barbarism. 

No  great  movements  of  mankind,  either  voluntary  or  compulsory, 
uprooting  the  population  of  one  country  and  transplanting  it  into 
another,  have  ever  occurred  witliout  producing  iniportaiit  results,  for 
good  or  for  ill,  to  the  people  transferred  and  to  the  world.  The 
removal  to  North  America  of  portions  of  the  j)opulations  of  Europe 
and  Africa — the  first  voluntary,  and  the  second  compulsory — the  one 
the  most  enlightened  and  upright  of  the  human  family,  and  the  other 
the  most  ignorant  and  debased — the  extremes  of  humanity — and 
their  coalescence,  upon  our  soil,  in  the  relation  of  master  and  slave, 
was  one  of  those  strange  and  incomprein-nsible  events,  the  design 
of  which  cannot  be  fathomed  by  any  depth  of  human  wisdom  and 
foresight,  but  can  only  be  understood  when  time  has  wrought  out 
its  ultimate  results. 

Our  first  settlers  from  Europe  were  the  advocates  of  a  Free  Chris- 
tianity, who  had  been  exiled  by  an  intolerant  zeal  for  religious 
uniformity,  and  forced  to  flee  from  persecution  to  a  land  where  they 
could  obtain  equal  rights  and  liberty  of  conscience.  No  sooner  had 
they  become  fairly  seated  in  their  wilderness  homes,  than  they  began 
to  af!brd  examples  of  the  practical  tendencies  of  their  religious  faith, 
by  attempting  the  education  and  conversion  of  the  native  Indians  ! 
The  substance  of  their  religious  belief,  so  far  as  it  had  a  controlling 
influence  in  modeling  their  course  of  policy,  may  be  thus  stated. 

They  believed  that  man  was  originally  created  a  pure  and  holy 
being,  and  in  the  possession  of  an  extent  of  happiness  that  was  only 
limited  by  his  capacity  for  enjoyment;  but  that  by  an  act  of  disobe- 
dience he  lost  his  original  purity  of  character,  and  involved  himself 
and  all  his  posterity  in  moral  ruin,  and  thus  the  whole  race  fell 
under  the  condemnation  of  the  law  of  God.  They  believed,  that 
all  the  ignorance,  sufi'ering,  injustice,  and  oppression  existing  in  the 
world  are  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  depravity  of  men's  hearts; 
and  that  these  evils  must  continue  until  mankind  are  brought  hack  to 
their  allegiance  to  God,  and  the  rebel  receives  pardon  and  is  released 
from  the  curse  of  the  divine  law.  They  believed,  that  notwithstand- 
ing man's  transgression,  "God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotteti  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish 
but  Inive  everlasting  life;"  and  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  the 
substitute  for  sinners,  by  his  obedience,  sufTerings,  and  death,  having 


28  Relations  of  American  Slavery 

satisfied  the  demands  of  divine  justice  and  made  an  atonement  tor 
sin,  thus  secured  pardon,  justification,  and  eternal  life,  for  all  who 
should  believe  in  his  name :  but  that  those  who  believed  not,  must 
forever  continue  under  condemnation  and  wrath.  They  believed 
that  human  misery  would  disappear  from  earth,  in  the  proportion 
that  men  could  be  persuaded  to  embrace  the  religion  of  Christ,  and 
to  conform  their  conduct  to  the  teachings  of  his  gospel ;  and  that  as 
soon  as  the  whole  world  could  be  brovight  under  the  influence  of  that 
gospel.  Humanity  would  dry  up  her  tears  and  peace  and  joy  become 
universal.  They  believed  that  the  command  of  the  Saviour  to  his 
disciples,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature,"  is  as  fully  binding  upon  believers  in  after  ages,  as  it  was 
upon  those  to  whom  it  was  at  first  delivered,  and  that  the  conse- 
quences which  he  declared  should  attend  that  preaching — "He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved,  and  he  that  believeth  not 
shall  be  damned" — will  continue  to  accompany  it  to  the  latest 
generations  of  men ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  responsibility  of  spread- 
ing tiie  gospel  as  fully  rests  upon  all  believers,  in  all  time,  so  far  as 
their  circumstances,  pecuniary  abilities,  opportunities,  talents,  and 
spiritual  gifts  will  allow,  as  it  did  upon  Paul,  when,  in  view  of  the 
sinfulness  of  men  and  their  liability  to  wrath,  he  exclaimed,  "for 
necessity  is  laid  upon  me ;  yea,  woe  is  unto  me,  if  I  preach  not  the 
gospel." 

Entertaining  such  views  of  their  responsibilities  to  God  and  to 
man,  the  desire  to  promote  the  temporal  and  eternal  interests  of 
their  posterity,  and  of  the  world,  became  a  ruling  principle  of  action 
with  the  first  emigrants  to  New  England.  They  commenced  their 
labors  on  such  a  scale  as  their  circumstances  permitted,  and  in  a 
few  years  mastered  the  language  of  the  Indians,  established  schools 
for  their  education,  and  translated  and  printed  the  Bible  in  the  native 
tongue,  thus  enabling  the  savage  of  the  forest  to  read  the  words  of 
eternal  life.  Such  was  the  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  such  the 
origin,  in  this  country,  of  that  Christian  philanthropy  which  includes 
within  its  embrace  the  wiiole  human  family,  and  is  now  exerting  its 
energies  to  give  the  gospel  to  the  whole  heathen  world. 

The  first  of  our  supply  of  the  population  of  Africa,  dragged  from 
their  homes  by  the  promptings  of  avarice,  to  gratify  an  unhallowed 
commercial  cupidity,  were  landed  in  the  colony  of  Virginia  in  1620, 
the  same  year  in  which  the  Puritan  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth. 
This  is  a  remarkable  coincidence.  The  first  advocates  of  a  Free 
Christianiiy,  and  the  first  African  slaves  who  touched  our  coast  were 
landed  in  the  same  year. 

In  thus  bringing  together  darkness  and  light — in  mingling  the 
lowest  form  of  Pagan  ignorance  and  depravity  with  the  highest 
development  of  Christian  intelligence  and  integrity — it  would  seem 
that  Divine  Providence  designed  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  the 
capability  of  a  Free  Christianity  to  transform  the  grossest  material 
of  humaniiy  into  the  most  refined,  and  thus  to  prove  the  unity 
and  natural  equality  of  the  human  race. 

Our  investigations  under  this  head  have  been  directed,  though  but 


To  African  Civilization.  39 

incidentally,  to  the  facts  connected  with  the  solution  of  this  great 
problem — the  sufficiency  of  a  pure  Christianity  to  restore  to  man 
his  lost  happiness — with  the  view,  principally,  of  pointing  out  the 
relation  which  the  slavery  of  the  United  States  bears  to  the  recovery 
ol  Africa  from  barbarism. 

The  best  authorities  make  the  number  of  slaves  exported  from 
Africa,  up  to  1847,  about  seven  millions  eight  hundred  and  forty-five 
thousand.  Great  as  this  number  appears,  the  estimate  is  no  doubt 
within  the  actual  number  of  the  victims  of  the  slave  trade.  And 
then,  to  have  a  proper  conception  of  the  extent  of  the  sufferings 
following  in  the  train  of  this  traffic,  it  must  be  remembered,  that  the 
number  of  lives  lost  in  Africa  during  the  wars  for  the  capture 
of  slaves  and  tlieir  transportation  to  the  coast,  equals  the  number 
exported,  making  her  entire  loss  fifteen  millions  six  hundred  and 
ninety  thousand  human  beings.  This  statement  will  give  a  just 
conception  of  the  extent  to  which  Africa  has  been  robbed  of  her 
children.  To  obt;iin  the  facts  wiiich  we  need  in  our  discussion,  our 
plan  hjs  been  to  follow  the  more  prominent  lines  along  which  the 
slave  trade  h:is  borne  the  population  of  Africa,  and  ascertain  what 
results  have  followed,  in  the  several  countries  to  which  the  African 
people  have  been  taken,  with  the  view  of  determining  the  intellectual 
and  moral  progress  they  may  have  made,  and  the  present  qualifi- 
cations of  each  group  to  act  as  pioneers  in  the  work  of  Africa's 
redemption. 

Passing  by,  for  the  present,  those  transported  to  the  British  West 
Indies,  to  Braz'd,  to  Cuba  and  to  INIexico,  we  find  that  those  im- 
ported into  the  colonies  now  composing  the  United  States,  were 
very  differently  situated  from  each  other  and  from  their  brethren 
left  behind  in  the  pagan  darkness  of  Africa.  A  part  of  them  fell 
into  the  hands  of  men,  not  so  scrupulous,  perhaps,  as  others  of  the 
colonists,  on  the  subject  of  equal  rights,  but  who,  to  say  the  least, 
were  so  far  under  the  influence  of  Christian  principle,  that  they 
deemed  it  an  imperative  duty  to  teach  their  households  to  read  the 
Bible,  and  to  instruct  them  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion. 
The  term  household,  according  to  their  interpretation,  included 
slaves.  At  that  day  apprentices  were  not  masters  in  the  shops 
where  they  learned  trades,  nor  students  sovereis;ns  in  colleges  to 
which  they  were  sent  to  be  educated.  The  judgment  of  age  was 
respected,  because  the  experience  of  years  was  supposed  to  impart 
wisdom.  Implicit  obedience  to  tbose  in  authority,  whether  parents, 
teachers,  masters  or  magistrates,  was  demanded  and  yielded;  and 
the  consequence  was,  that  while  education  enlightened  the  mind,  and 
religious  instruction  moulded  the  lieart,  a  generation  of  men  were 
ushered  upon  the  stage  of  action,  with  a  love  of  order  and  submission 
to  law,  as  unalterable  as  was  their  hostility  to  despotism,  and  their 
determination  to  secure  to  themselves  the  rights  of  conscience,  and 
iHe  blessings  of  civil  liberty — of  liberty  under  the  restraints  of  law. 
But  while  they  rigidly  held  tbe  doctrine  of  the  natural  equality  of 
the  human  race,  they  as  unchangeably  believed  I/tat  only  men 
of  intelligence  and  moral  integrity  are  capable  of  self-government 


30  lielulions  of  American  Slavery 

The  scliool  house  and  the  church,  the  sources  of  intelligence  and 
morality,  with  them  were  objects  of  the  first  importance,  because  the 
perpetuity  of  the  free  institutions  they  were  fouuding  would  depend, 
they  believed,  not  upon  any  magic  in  the  mere  possession  of  freedom, 
but  in  the  intelligence  and  moral  principle  of  their  posterity.  While, 
therefore,  they  labored  for  the  intellectual  and  moral  elevation  of  the 
Indian  and  the  African,  they  refused  to  admit  them  to  the  privileges 
of  citizenship.  No  morbid  seutimentality  upon  the  subject  of  equal 
rights  could  induce  them  to  forget  the  peril  into  which  they  would 
cast  the  precious  jewel  of  the  elective  franchise,  by  conferring  it 
upon  savage  or  half-civilized  men,  necessarily  destitute  of  the  ability 
through  ignorance,  of  making  a  discreet  use  of  the  privilege.  While, 
then,  they  believed  the  savage  man  to  be  equal,  by  naliire,  with  the 
civilized  man,  and  that,  by  education,  lie  could  be  made  his  equal, 
also,  intcllccliially  and  morally,  until  thus  educated  and  capable 
of  being  controlled  by  moral  principle,  they  would  have  conceived  it 
to  be  madness  to  make  the  savage  man  the  equal  partner  in  com- 
mercial business  with  the  civilized  man,  and  much  less  would  they 
have  considered  it  a  measure  of  safety  to  make  him  the  equal  in  the 
administration  of  government. 

It  was  into  the  midst  of  such  men  as  these,  though  contrary  to  the 
principles  and  wishes  of  the  majority,  and  in  opposition  to  their 
remonstrances  and  legislative  enactments,  that  England  forced  the 
population  of  Africa.  And,  as  if  by  an  instinctive  forecast,  despotism 
seems  to  have  anticipated  the  elfects,  on  this  continent,  of  a  Free 
Christianity,  generating  independence  of  thought,  and  demanding  for 
men  equalrights  and  liberty  of  conscience,  and  sought,  by  casting  in 
a  mass  of  ignorance  from  Africa,  to  retard  if  not  to  prevent  the  full 
development  of  these  great  principles.  This  disposition  was  clearly 
indicated  by  the  English  statesman,  who  declared,  as  a  sufficient  rea- 
son for  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  remonstrances  of  the  Colonists  against 
the  further  importation  of  slaves,  that  "  Negroes  cannot  become 
Republicans — they  will  be  a  power  in  our  hands  to  restrain  the  unruly 
Colonists," 

That  such  motives  prompted  England  to  prosecute  the  introduction 
of  slaves  into  the  colonies  with  great  activity,  was  fully  believed  by 
the  American  statesmen  of  the  Revolution,  and  their  views  were  thus 
energetically  expressed,  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  the  first  draft  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  but  which  was  afterward  omitted  : 

"He  (the  king  of  Great  Britain)  has  waged  cruel  war  against 
human  nature  itself,  violating  its  most  sacred  rights  of  life  and  liberty 
in  the  persons  of  a  distant  people  who  never  ofiended  him,  captivating 
and  carrying  them  into  slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to  incur 
miserable  death  in  their  transportation  thither.  This  piratical  war- 
fare, the  opprobium  of  infidel  powers,  is  the  warfare  of  the  Christian 
king  of  Britain.  Determined  to  keep  open  a  market  where  men 
should  be  bought  and  sold,  he  has  prostituted  his  negative  for  sup- 
pressing every  legislative  attempt  to  restrain  this  execrable  commerce. 
And  that  this  assemblage  of  horrors  might  want  no  fact  of  distin- 
guished dye,  he  is  now  exciting  those  very  people  to  rise  in  arms 


To  African  Civilizalion.  31 

among  us,  and  purchase  that  liberty  of  which  he  has  deprived  them 
by  murdering  the  people  upon  whom  he  has  obtruded  them :  thus 
payiuiT  off  former  crimes  committed  against  the  liberties  of  one  people, 
by  crimes  which  he  urges  tliem  to  commit  against  the  lives  of  another." 

But  that  desire  to  impart  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  to  their  fellow- 
men,  which  had  prompted  that  yet  feeble  colony  to  attempt  the  con- 
version of  the  Indians,  could  not  but  lead  also  to  eiforts  for  the  elevation 
of  the  poor  African  slave.  In  accordance  with  this  view,  we  find 
that  the  slaves  were  subjected,  more  or  less,  to  the  rules  of  their  mas- 
ters' families,  affording,  to  many  of  them,  opportunities  of  iutelleclual 
and  moral  improvement,  which  soon  began  to  elevate  them  in  the 
scale  of  being  from  that  of  the  lowest  state  of  barbarism,  which  they 
had  occupied  in  Africa,  to  one  of  approximate  civilization.  Pious 
ministers,  also,  being  generally  allowed  free  access  to  the  slaves, 
obeved  the  injunction  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  and 
labored  for  their  improvement  and  conversion.  Thus  nearly  the 
whole  mass  of  the  victims  of  the  slave  trade,  who  were  brought  to 
the  territory  now  forming  the  United  States,  were  ultimately  placed 
und«r  circumstances  wliich  afforded  to  them  advantages  of  infinite 
value,  and  from  which,  to  this  day,  they  might  have  been  excluded, 
had  they  not  been  brought  from  Africa. 

Manv  generations  of  men  have  been  ushered  into  existence  and 
disappeared  again  from  the  earth,  while  these  causes  have  been  in 
operation.  Of  the  number  of  thousands  of  colored  men  who  have 
lived,  during  this  period,  embraced  the  gospel,  and  died  in  the  hope  of 
a  blessed  immortality,  we  can  form  no  estimate.  But  the  number  of 
professors  of  religion  of  African  descent,  now  living  in  the  United 
States,  may  be  estimnted  at  nearly  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  many  years 
since,  commenced  a  systematic  course  of  missionary  labors  among 
the  colored  people,  but  designed  principally  for  the  slaves.  The 
Reports  of  this  Church,  for  184fl,  show  that  a  large  number  of  mis- 
sionaries are  employed  in  this  field,  and  give  twenty-eight  thousand 
five  hundred  and  eighty-nine  colored  persons  as  members  at  the  North, 
and  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  at  the  South.  We  find  it  stated  in  a  southern  paper,  that  the 
number  of  colored  members,  in  the  slave  States,  belonging  to  the 
Baptist  Church,  is  over  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand.  The 
Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  and  Associate  RHformed  Presbyterians, 
in  the  South,  have  also  long  been  engaged  in  the  religious  training 
of  the  slaves,  and  have  received  many  of  them  into  church  membei'- 
ship.  At  the  present  moment,  the  Sabbath  schools  of  these  seve- 
ral religious  bodies  are  very  extensive  and  vt-ry  efficient.  The 
Cumberland  Presbyterians,  we  understand,  are  not  inattentive  to  the 
religious  wants  of  the  slave,  but  we  are  without  statistics  on  the  sub- 
ject of  their  operations.  The  number  of  colored  members  in  the 
Baptist  Church  at  the  North  is  not  known  to  us,  but  must  amount  to 
several  hundreds.  Our  estimate  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, 
as  the  whok  of  the  colored  members  of  churches  in  the  United  States, 
is,  therefore,  probably  not  above  the  true  number. 


32  Relations  of  American  Slavery 

But  besides  these  pleasing  results  of  the  agencies  accompanying 
slavery  in  this  country,  it  must  be  added,  tliat  we  have  at  present 
about  four  hundred  and  sixty  lhousan(}  free  persons  of  color,  from 
whom  the  shackles  of  slavery  have  fallen,  and  many  of  whom  possess 
an  amount  of  intelligence  which  indicates,  very  plainly,  that  equal 
advantages  only  are  needed  to  enable  them  to  attain  a  high  standard 
in  all  that  adorns  the  cliaracter  of  the  civilized  and  Christian  man. 
And,  in  addition  to  all  this,  it  must  be  noticed,  that  the  whole  colored 
population  of  the  United  States,  which  will  number,  in  1850,  about 
three  millions  six  hundred  and  ninety-seven  thousand — though  the 
standard  of  morality,  with  the  larger  part,  is  known  to  be  very  low — 
may  be  said  to  be  freed  from  the  degrading  influences  of  African 
superstition  and  idolatry,  and  thus  made  more  accessible  to  the  Chris- 
tian teacher.  This  result  was  greally  hastened  by  another  most 
singular  coincidence.  Scarcely  had  the  work  of  the  religious  train- 
ing of  slaves  been  fairly  undertaken,  and  its  practicability  determined, 
when  the  furdier  influx  of  heathenism  was  prevented  by  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  slave  trade,  and  the  task  of  overcoming  their  pagan  super- 
stitions and  idolatrous  customs  was  thus  more  ea^sily  accomplished. 

But  this  does  not  yet  complete  the  catalogue  of  good  results  accom- 
panying the  transportation  of  the  population  of  Africa  to  this  country. 
In  addition  to  the  blessings  of  Christianity  secured  to  them,  in  con- 
nexion with  slavery,  their  captivity  among  us  seems  to  have  been  but 
a  preparatory  step  toward  the  development  of  another  of  the  results 
to  be  produced  in  permitting  the  cupidity  of  the  Christian  world  to 
make  merchandise  of  the  sons  of  Africa;  and  that  result  is  their  being 
constituted  a  distinct  people,  a  civilized,  enlightened  and  powerful 
nation.  The  indications  of  this  are  unmistakeable.  In  the  progress 
of  intelligence  among  the  Africans  of  the  United  States,  that  passion 
for  equal  rights  and  ()rivilegcs  which  ciiaracterized  those  who  laid  the 
foundations  of  American  Independence,  was  also  infused  into  their 
breasts,  animating  them  likewise  with  the  love  of  liberty  and  the 
determination  to  secure  to  themselves  and  their  children  the  blessings 
of  free  government.  But  being  conscious  of  the  secondary  position 
which  they  must  necessarily  occupy  in  the  social  relations  of  this 
country  ;  and  in  view  also  of  the  important  fact,  that  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  the  world  could  not  be  secured  to  the  colored  race  short  of 
the  demonstration  of  their  capacity  for  self-government ;  and  knowmg 
the  impossibility  of  testing  that  point  where  such  a  preponderance 
of  whites  existed;  and  where,  by  the  more  rapid  increase  of  the 
whites,  by  foreign  immigratiim,  die  colored  people  must  necessarily 
forever  consiitute  a  very  small  minority,  and  their  influence  scarcely 
be  felt,  excepting  as  their  votes  would  be  in  demand  during  party  con- 
tests :  in  view  of  liiese  and  other  considerations,  after  the  most  mature 
deliberation,  a  few  colored  men  were  led,  thirty  years  ago,  to  accept 
the  proposition  of  making  a  noble  and  daring  effort  for  nationality  in 
Africa  itself,  where  eighty  millions  of  their  brethren  might  he  civil- 
ized and  incorporated  with  them,  thus  creating  a  government  whose 
numerical  strength  would  be  four-fold  that  of  the  one  they  would 
leave. 


To  African  Civilization.  88 

The  encouraging  success  which  has  crowned  this  enterprize  of  the 
colored  people,  is  well  known,  and  proves  as  fully  that  it  is  of  God, 
as  thiit  our  own  happy  Kepuhlic  was  planted  by  the  right  hand  of  the 
Almighty,  as  a  model  to  the  world  of  the  power  of  a  free  Christianity 
to  promote  human  happiness.  The  Republic  of  Liberia,  now  num- 
bering within  its  limits  one  hundred  thousand  souls,  is  but  a  trans- 
plantment  to  Africa  of  American  civilization,  American  views  of  the 
rights  of  man,  and  American  principles  in  relation  to  the  freedom  of 
religion.  These  principles  are  already  beginning  to  produce  their 
ameliorating  effects  in  Africa,  and  their  power  to  elevate  and  ennoble 
mankind  are  becoming  more  and  more  manifest  every  day.  It  is  a 
fact,  now  acknowledged  in  Europe  and  America,  that  the  moral  influ- 
ence already  exerted  by  Liberia,  has  done  more  for  the  cause  of 
humanity,  in  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  and  in  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  and  the  other  evils  afflicting  Africa,  than  has  been 
accomplished'by  the  combined  eflbrts  of  the  civilized  world. 

We  have  now  traced  the  prominent  results  following  the  enslave- 
ment of  the  Africans  in  the  United  States,  until  we  have  seen  the  tide 
of  emigration  begin  to  flow  back  from  our  shores  to  Africa,  bearing 
her  children  to  her  again,  not  as  received  from  her,  with  minds  dark- 
ened by  heathenish  superstitions,  but,  many  of  them,  enlightened  and 
christianized  men,  able  to  bless  her  and  redeem  her.  The  plan  of 
our  investigations  leads  us  to  follow  the  other  lines  of  dispersion  of 
the  population  of  Africa;  to  ascertain  the  results  in  other  countries, 
with  the  view  of  determining  the  relation  which  the  slavery  of  the 
United  States  bears  to  ihe  recovery  of  Africa  from  barbarism. 

We  shall  turn  first  to  the  British  West  Indies,  and  as  Jamaica  is 
the  most  prominent  of  these  islands,  and  will  best  serve  as  a  type  of 
the  whole,  our  inquiries  will  be  chiefly  confined  to  it.  We  have 
obtained  our  facts,  principally,  from  the  recently  written  history  of 
Jamaica,  by  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Phillippo,  for  twenty  years  a  Baptist 
missionary  in  that  island. 

The  Island  of  Jamaica,  discovered  in  1494,  was  setfled  by  a  colony 
of  Spaniards  in  1509,  who,  by  their  oppressions  and  savage  cruelties, 
in  less  than  fifty  years,  wholly  exterminated  the  native  population, 
originally  numbering  from  eighty  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand. 
African  slaves  seem  to  have  been  introduced  at  an  early  day  as  sub- 
stitutes for  the  natives,  and  up  to  1655,  when  the  English,  then  at 
war  with  Spain,  took  possession  of  the  island,  forty  thousand  slaves 
had  been  imported  by  the  Spaniards,  only  fifteen  hundred  of  whom 
were  then  surviving.  Jamaica,  by  this  change  of  masters,  was  not 
much  improved  in  its  social  and  moral  condition,  which,  under  the 
one  hundred  and  forty-six  years  of  Spanish  rule,  had  been  deplorable. 
It  now  became  the  rendezvous  of  buccaneers  and  piratical  crusaders, 
a  desperate  band  of  men  from  all  the  maritime  powers  of  Europe, 
who  continued  to  perpetrate  almost  every  degree  of  wickedness,  both 
on  sea  and  land,  until  1670,  when  peace  was  made  with  Spain,  and  a 
more  vigorous  administration  of  law  attempted.  Twenty-six  years 
after  England  conquered  the  island,  1696,  up  to  which  period  the 
importation  of  slaves  was  still  continued,  the  whites  numbered  fitteen 


34  Relations  of  American  Slavery 

thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight,  and  the  slaves  nine  thousand 
five  hundred.  At  the  end  of  an  additional  forty-six  years,  1742,  du- 
ring nearly  ihe  M'hole  of  which  time  the  monopoly  of  the  slave  trade 
was  held  by  England,  the  whites  numbered  fourteen  thousand,  and  the 
slaves  one  hundred  thousand.  The  annual  importation  of  sl:>.ves  into 
Jamaica  now  reached  sixteen  thousand,  so  that,  at  the  end  of  another 
twenty-eight  years,  they  numbered  two  hundred  thousand,  while  the 
whites  had  scarcely  increased  two  thousand.  These  numbers  show, 
that  from  1742  till  1770,  a  period  of  twenty-eight  years,  the  numbtr 
of  slaves  who  sunk  under  the  lash  of  the  Jamaica  task-master,  must 
have  been  two  hundred  and  forty-eight  thousand,  or  almost  nine 
thousand  annually.  The  whole  number  of  slaves  imported  by  the 
English,  up  to  1808,  when  the  slave  trade  was  forbidden  by  Parlia- 
ment, was  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  to  which  must  be  added 
the  fori)'  thousand  imported  by  the  Spaniards,  making  the  total  num- 
ber of  the  population  of  Africa,  transported  to  Jamaica,  amount  to 
eight  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  men.  And  yet,  tlie  startling  truth 
must  be  told,  that  when  the  census  of  the  slave  population  of  this 
island  was  ordered  by  government,  in  1835,  under  the  emancipation 
act,  instead  of  an  increase  on  the  numbers  imported,  they  amounted 
to  only  three  hundred  and  eleven  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-two. 

It  will  be  an  easy  task  for  any  person  of  ordinary  intelligence,  to 
picture  to  himself  the  state  of  morals  and  the  social  condition  of  the 
white  inhabitants  of  Jamaica,  during  the  several  periods  of  its  history 
to  which  we  have  referred  ;  and  what  must  have  been  the  reflex 
influence  of  such  a  population  upon  the  poor  ignorant  savages  from 
Africa.  To  say  that  the  moral  character  of  the  whites  of  Jamaica 
was  the  extreme  reverse  of  that  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  United 
btaies,  would,  perhaps,  be  strictly  true.  On  this  point,  however,  we 
shall  not  dwell.  Our  object  is  to  see  what  were  the  results  to  the 
Africans  introduced  into  that  island,  that  their  progress,  intellectually 
and  morally,  may  be  contrasted  wiih  that  of  the  colored  population 
of  the  United  States,  that  we  may  learn  their  qualifications  to  give  to 
Africa  a  Christian  civilization. 

On  this  point  we  are  not  left  to  conjecture.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Phil- 
lippo  is  very  full  upon  the  subject  of  their  social  and  moral  condition, 
and  the  facts  stated  by  him  in  his  history,  before  referred  to,  are  con- 
firmed by  the  missionary  history  of  the  island.  He  represents  the 
slaves  as  having  retained,  in  full  practice,  all  the  gross  and  debasing 
superstitions  which  were  capable  of  being  transferred  from  Africa, 
and  that  "upward  of  one  hundred  years  after  Jamaica  became  an 
appendage  of  the  British  crown,  scarcely  an  effort  had  been  made  to 
instruct  the  slaves  in  the  great  doctrines  and  duties  of  Christianity; 
and  although,  in  1696,  at  the  instance  of  the  mother  country,  an  act 
was  passed  by  the  local  legislature,  directing  that  all  slave  owners 
should  instruct  their  negroes,  and  have  them  baptised,  'when  fit  for 
it,'  it  is  evident,  from  the  very  terms  in  which  the  act  was  expressed, 
that  it  was  designed  to  be,  as  it  afterward  proved,  a  dead  letter — a 
mere  political  maneuver,  intended  to  prevent  the  parent  state  from 
interfering  in  the  management  of  the  slaves." 


To  African  Civilization.  35 

From  this  time  to  1770,  a  period  of  seventy-four  years,  the 
question  of  slave  instriRtioii  hiy  dead  in  Jamaica,  when  Parliament 
put  certain  questions  to  Mr.  Wedderburn  as  to  the  actual  state  of  the 
lelii^ious  instruction  of  slaves  in  the  Island.  He  replied,  "There 
are  a  few  properties  on  which  tiiere  are  Moravian  parsons;  but  in 
ofeneral  there  is  no  religious  instruction."  The  same  testimony  was 
borne  at  the  same  time  by  Mr.  Fuller,  Agent  of  Jamaica,  and  two 
others,  who,  when  asked,  "  What  religious  instructions  are  there  for 
tlie  neiiro  slaves,"  answered,  "  We  know  of  none  such  in  Jamaica." 

The  Rev,  Dr.  Coke,  who  was  sent  out  on  a  missionary  exploration 
in  1787,  says,  "  W^hen  I  tirst  landed  in  Jamaica,  the  form  of  Godli- 
ness was  hardly  visible ;  and  its  power,  except  in  some  few  solitary 
inst:uices,  was  totally  unknown.  Iniquity  prevaUed  in  all  its  forms. 
Both  whites  and  blacks,  to  the  number  of  between  three  hundred 
thousand  and  four  hundred  thousand,  were  evidently  living  without 
hope  and  without  God  in  the  world.  The  language  of  the  Apostle 
seems  strikingly  descriptive  of  tlieir  entire  depravity:  "There  is 
none  righteous,  no,  not  one ;  there  is  none  that  understandeth,  there 
is  none  that  seekelh  after  God.  Their  throats  are  an  open  sepulcher; 
with  their  tongue  they  have  used  deceit;  the  poison  of  asps  is  under 
their  lips;  their  feet  are  swift  to  shed  blood,  and  the  way  of  peace 
they  have  not  known." 

In  1796,  Mr.  Edwards,  the  historian  of  the  West  Indies,  in  his 
place  in  the  House  of  Commons;,  when  speaking  of  sending  mission- 
aries to  a  certain  point  in  Jamaica,  said,  "  I  speak  from  my  own 
knowledge  when  I  say,  that  they  are  cannibals,  and  that  instead  of 
listening  to  a  missionary,  they  would  certainly  eat  him." 

But  this  must  complete  our  testimony  of  the  effects  of  slavery  upon 
its  subjects  in  Jamaica.  Mr.  Philippo  shows  very  conclusively, 
that  the  colored  population  of  Jamaica,  up  to  a  very  recent  period, 
were  elevated  scarcely  a  jot  alxive  the  natives  of  Africa.  They  had 
brought  with  them  from  Africa  nearly  all  its  gross  and  debasing 
superstitions,  and  all  its  social  moral  evils,  making  tlieir  new  homes 
in  Jamaica  almost  a.  facsimile  of  those  from  which  they  had  been 
torn  in  Africa. 

One  additional  fact,  however,  must  not  be  overlooked;  and  that  is, 
that  this  fearful  moral  degradation  of  the  slaves  of  Jamaica,  and 
their  total  destitution  of  all  the  means  of  religious  insfriiction,  did 
not  render  them  peaceful  and  contented,  and  secure  the  safety  of  their 
masters.  This  is  abundantly  proved  in  the  fact,  that  during  the 
period  in  which  the  Island  was  held  by  England,  nearly  thirty  insur- 
rections of  the  slaves  took  place.  Tiiis  fact,  when  contrasted  with 
the  comparatively  few  attempts  at  insurrection  which  have  taken 
place  in  the  United  Stales,  where  religions  instruction  among  the 
slaves  has  been  common,  should  teach  the  slaveholder,  that  the 
perpetuation  of  the  ignorance  and  degradation  of  the  slaves,  is  no 
safeguard  against  servile  insurrections,  but  that  the  teachings  of 
Christianity,  wlule  it  opens  up  the  way  of  eternal  life  to  the  slave, 
and  prepares  him  to  take  upon  himself  the  duties  of  a  freeman,  do 
not  necessarily  endanger  the  safety  of  the  master. 


36  delations  of  American  Slavery 

We  have  already  stated  the  fact,  that  commerce  is  incapable  of 
civilizing  savage  men.  In  the  history  of  Jamaica,  we  have  still 
more  positive  evidence  that  slavery  is  equally  powerless  in  the 
promotion  of  civilization,  and  that  it  can  only  be  considered  as  a 
link  in  the  chain  of  events  which  may  bring  savage  tribes  into  the 
midst  of  a  civilized  people,  but  that  the  civilization  of  savages,  under 
such  circumstances,  is  no  more  a  necessary  result  of  slavery,  than 
it  is  of  their  imprisonment  in  the  slave  ship  that  transported  them 
across  the  ocean,  or  the  manacles  that  bound  them  during  the  voyage. 
Let  us  look  at  the  facts.  The  English  conquered  the  Island  in  1665. 
The  last  testimony  on  the  subject  of  the  want  of  religious  instruction 
for  the  slaves,  dates  in  1796.  Tjie  Island,  therefore,  had  been  under 
British  rule  for  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  forty  years.  If,  then, 
slavery  could  elevate,  and  improve,  and  civilize  its  victims,  surely 
there  was  time  enough  for  it  to  have  produced  these  fruits  in  the  one 
hundred  and  forty  years  of  British  rule  in  Jamaica.  But  no  such 
fruits  had  been  borne.  The  slaves  were  still  savage.  Now,  to  these 
one  hundred  and  forty  years  must  be  added  at  least  twenty  more  of 
British  rule,  because  missionary  operations,  introducing  the  Gospel, 
Avere  not  actively  commenced  until  twenty  years  after  this  period. 
But  if  longer  time  is  claimed,  then  add  the  one  hundred  and  forty-six 
years  during  which  the  Island  was  under  the  Spaniards,  to  tlie  one 
hundred  and  sixty  under  the  British,  and  we  have  three  hundred 
years  of  absolute  slavery  in  Jamaica,  and  yet  the  slaves  made  no 
advancement  in  the  scale  of  moral  being  beyond  the  condition  in 
which  they  had  been  originally  found  in  Africa.  The  results  of 
African  slavery  in  Jamaica,  at  the  end  of  these  three  hundred  years,  is 
thus  graphically  described  by  Mr.  Phillippo,  "  It  may  be  emphatically 
said,  that  darkness  covered  the  land,  and  gross  darkness  the  people. 
And  if  one  ray  of  light  glimmered  in  its  midst,  it  only  served  to  render 
the  surrounding  darkness  still  more  visible — more  clearly  to  exhibit 
the  hideous  abominations  beneath  which  the  Island  groaned." 

This  particular  reference  has  been  made  to  this  point,  because  of  the 
fact,  that  many  have  a  vague,  indefinite,  ill-defined  notion,  that  the 
great  good  which  has  resulted  to  the  slaves  of  the  United  Stales,  in 
connection  with  slavery,  is  a  fruit  of  slavery.  And  should  it  still 
be  claimed,  that  the  moral  elevation  attained  by  the  African  race  in 
the  United  States,  is  a  necessary  fruit  of  slavery,  with  equal  pro- 
priety it  can  be  urged,  that  the  moral  degradation  of  the  slaves  of 
Jamaica,  for  the  three  hundred  years  preceding  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century,  was  also  due  to  slavery.  Both  these  propositions 
cannot  be  true.  The  fact  is,  that  they  are  untrue  in  both  cases. 
That  the  intellectual  and  moral  elevation  of  the  slaves  of  the  United 
States  is  not  due  to  slavery,  is  amply  proved  by  the  fact,  that  the 
least  advancement  has  been  made  by  them  tchere  slavery  exists  in 
its  greatest  strength,  and  where  the  Christian  teacher  has  been  the 
most  car  (fully  shut  out  from  them.  And  so  far  as  Jamaica  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  true,  beyond  all  doubt,  that  its  slavery  did  not  degrade 
its  African  population  into  savages.  It  found  them  savages,  but  was 
wholly  powerless  for  their  moral  elevation,  as   long   as    the   only 


To  SJrican  Civilization.  37 

influences  exerted  over  iheni  were  from  a  white  population  destitute 
of  a  Christian  morality. 

But  if  shivery,  of  itself,  be  powerless  in  the  moral  elevation  of  its 
suhjects,  it  does  not  necessarily  prevent  all  moral  improvement.  The 
truth  of  this  proposition  is  fully  sustained  by  the  results  in  both  the 
United  Stales  and  Jamaica.  It  is  further  proved  by  the  efTects 
following  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  all  the  British  West 
India  Islands.  The  work  of  missions  in  Jamaica,  as  well  as  in  the 
other  Islands,  met  with  the  most  rancorous  opposition  from  the 
planters,  who  viewed  the  religious  instruction  of  the  slaves  as  "  in- 
compatible with  the  existence  of  slavery."  The  mission  work, 
though  begun  in  Jamaica,  by  the  Baptists,  in  1813,  and  by  the 
Methodists,  under  Dr.  Coke,  in  1789,  and  again  in  1815 — made  but 
little  progress,  being  resolutely  opposed,  until  about  1820.  In  1824, 
the  Moravians,  who  had  commenced  in  1754,  had  four  stations  and 
four  missionaries  ;  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  eight  stations  and  eight 
missionaries  ;  and  the  Baptists  five  stations  and  five  missionaries. 

Here  then,  are  the  dates  of  the  commencement  of  regular  religious 
instruction  in  Jamaica.  Though  overawed  by  the  mother  country, 
the  planters  still  manifested  bitter  hostility  to  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  slaves,  and  in  1832,  on  a  partial  insurrection  of  the  Blacks, 
their  wrath  overflowing  all  bounds,  they  destroyed  fourteen  chapels, 
with  private  houses  and  other  property,  belonging  to  the  Baptists, 
amounting  in  value  to  $115,250,  and  six  chapels,  belonging  to  the 
Methodists,  and  property  worth  $30,000.  Every  species  of  cruelty 
and  insult  were  inflicted  upon  the  missionaries.  The  emancipation 
act  of  the  next  year,  1833,  for  ever  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  the 
planters  to  repeat  such  acts  of  injustice  and  violence,  and  the  mis- 
sionary work,  uninterrupted,  has  been  eminendy  successful.  In 
1843,  says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Phillippo,  the  whole  number  of  converts  in 
Jamaica  was  one  hundred  thousand,  out  of  a  population  of  near  half 
a  million;  the  number  of  regular  places  of  worship  were  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six,  and  the  out  stations  swelling  them  to  three 
hundred  ;  while  the  number  of  missionaries  were  over  one  hundred 
and  seventy,  with  nearly  an  equal  number  of  native  assistants.  Thus 
stood  the  question  of  the  religious  instruction  of  the  African  popula- 
tion of  the  Island  in  1842.  Superstitions  and  immoralities  were  fast 
disappearing  under  the  influence  of  the  gospel,  and  the  marriage 
relation  was  respected.  But  the  fewness  of  the  missionaiies  and  teach- 
ers, in  proportion  to  the  population,  rendering  it  impracticable  to  bring 
all  under  a  course  of  instruction,  makes  the  progress  slower  than  is  de- 
sirable, and  leaves  many  portions  of  the  Island  still  sunk  in  ignorance. 

Previous  to  the  year  1823,  there  were  not  more  than  one  or  two 
schools  for  the  colored  people  on  the  whole  Island.  In  1824,  the 
whole  number  of  missionaries  was  seventeen,  in  a  slave  population 
of  three  hundred  and  eleven  thousand,  and  a  free  colored  population 
of  forty  thousand.  Here,  then,  were  the  educational  agencies  of 
Jamaica,  twenty-five  years  ago — not  over  nineteen  missionaries  and 
teachers  to  a  population  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-one  thousand 
souls,  or  only  one  to  each  eighteen  thousand  four  hundred. 
7 


38  Relations  of  American  Slavery 

In  this  brief  outline  of  the  history  of  Jamaica,  ample  evidence  is 
furnished  to  show  that  slavery  is  powerless  for  good  to  its  victims. 
It  also  proves,  that  a  free  Christianity  can  transform,  and  elevate, 
and  civilize,  even  slaves.  But,  as  a  barbarous  people  cannot  make 
much  progress  in  a  single  generation,  Jamaica,  at  present,  can  supply 
little  aid  in  the  bestowment  of  a  Christian  civilization  upon  Africa. 
In  relation  to  Cuba,  the  tale  is  soon  told.  According  to  McQueen,  its 
slave  population,  some  years  ago,  was  four  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  were  females, 
and  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  were  males.  This  dis- 
proportion of  the  sexes  will  sufiicienUy  indicate  the  social  evils 
growing  out  of  such  a  condition  of  things.  Since  that  period,  the 
slave  trade  has  received  a  great  stimulus,  by  the  opening  of  the 
English  markets  to  slave-grown  sugar,  and  the  continued  importation 
of  slaves  into  Cuba,  gives  her  at  present  six  hundred  thousand.  She 
has  also  one  hundred  thousand  free  colored  persons,  and  six  hundred 
and  ten  thousand  whites. 

A  report  read  before  the  London  Anti-Slavery  Society,  1843, 
represents  the  plantation  slaves  of  Cuba  as  never  receiving  the  least 
moral  or  religious  instruction.  "  Most  of  them  are  baptized,  because 
the  curate's  certificate  of  baptism  serves  as  a  title  deed  in  the  civil 
courts  of  the  Island.  They  live,  in  general,  in  a  state  of  concubinage. 
They  have  not  the  most  distant  idea  of  Christianity.  The  annual 
decrease  by  deaths  over  births  is,  among  the  plantation  slaves,  from 
ten  to  twelve  per  cent.,  and  among  the  others  from  four  to  six  per 
cent.  The  births  exceed  the  deaths  among  the  free  colored  popula- 
tion, from  five  to  six  per  cent.  The  hours  of  labor  were  from  four, 
A.  M.  until  ten,  P.  M.,  including  eighteen  hours  of  the  twenty-four, 
with  an  allowance  of  an  hour  for  dinner." 

An  extract  of  a  letter  from  an  eyewitness  in  Cuba,  which  was 
addressed  to  Lord  John  Russell,  and  copied  into  Blackwood's  Maga- 
zine, February,  1848,  says,  "It  was  crop  time:  the  mills  went 
round  night  and  day.  On  every  estate,  (I  scarcely  hope  to  be 
believetl  when  I  state  the  fact,)  every  slave  was  worked  under  the 
whip,  eighteen  hours  of  the  ttvenfyfour,  and  in  the  hoiling-houses, 
from  five  to  six,  P.  M.,  and  from  eleven  o'clock  till  midnight,  when 
half  the  people  were  concluding  their  eighteen  hours'  work,  the  sound 
of  tiie  hellish  lash  was  incessant;  indeed  it  was  necessary,  to  keep 
the  overtasked  wretches  awake.  The  six  hours  which  they  rested, 
they  spent  locked  in  a  barracoon — a  strong,  foul,  close  sty,  where 
they  wallowed  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex.  While  at  work,  llie 
slaves  were  stimulated  by  drivers,  armed  with  swords  and  whips, 
and  protected  by  magnificent  bloodhounds.  There  was  no  marry- 
ing among  the  plantation  slaves.  On  many  estates  females  were 
entirely  excluded.  It  was  cheaper  and  less  troublesome  to  buy  than 
to  raise  slaves."  ******  "Religious  instruction  and 
medical  aid  were  not  carried  out  generally  beyond  baptism  and 
vaccination." 

But  a  sense  of  propriety  forbids  that  we  should  complete  the  quo- 
tation.    Enough,  truly,  is  given  to  show  that  the  social  and  moral 


To  African  Civilization.  39 

condition  of  the  slaves  in  Cuba  is  most  deplorable.  Nor  have  any 
ameliorating  agencies  been  introduced  to  work  a  change.  In  a 
careful  inspection  of  the  operations  of  English  and  American  mis- 
sionary societies,  we  cannot  find  that  any  missionaries  of  a  free 
Christianity  have  gained  a  footliold  in  Cuba.  The  exclusiveness 
of  the  established  religion  of  Spain,  which  forbids  freedom  of  religion, 
has,  no  doubt,  been  extended  to  her  colony,  and  the  poor  African 
still  toils  beneath  the  lash  of  his  merciless  taskmaster,  unconscious 
of  his  accountability  to  God,  and  of  the  oiTer  of  salvation  through 
faith  in  the  Saviour. 

After  this  picture  of  the  results  accompanying  the  enslavement  of 
the  Africans  in  Cuba,  no  one  will  look  to  that  island  for  aid  in  tlie 
civilization  of  Africa,  until  the  self-denying  missionaries  of  a  free 
Christianity,  are  permitted  to  labor  therein,  for  the  instruction  and 
salvation  of  the  poor  slave. 

The  slaves  transported  from  Africa  to  Brazil  have  been  subjected 
to  influences  as  unfavorable  to  intellectuil  and  moral  improvement  as 
those  taken  to  any  other  country.  Unfortunately  for  Brazil,  a  free 
Christianity  was  not  secured  to  its  early  settlers  from  Europe,  and  the 
consequences  have  been  deplorable.  In  accordance  with  the  views 
and  policy  of  the  times,  the  most  rigid  and  extreme  measures  were 
adopted  to  preserve  unity  of  faith.  Two  ministers  and  fourteen  stu- 
dents, sent  out  to  Brazil  by  the  Protestant  Church  of  Geneva,  were 
prevented,  by  the  sanguinary  fanaticism  of  the  adherents  of  the  estab- 
lished religion,  from  introducing  a  Bible  Christianity.  The  leading 
men  of  the  party  of  Huguenots,  who  fled  to  Brazil  in  1555,  from  per- 
secution in  France,  were  thrown  into  prison,  and  after  eight  years' 
confinement,  John  Boles,  the  most  prominent  of  the  prisoners,  was 
martyred,  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  "  for  the  sake  of  terrifying  his  country- 
men, if  any  of  them  should  be  lurking  in  those  parts."  The  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  a  few  years  since, 
attempted  to  enter  into  Brazil  as  a  missionary  field,  but  the  effort, 
proving  unsuccessful,  has  been  abandoned. 

Without  the  Bible  as  a  moral  instructor  of  youth,  and  without  the 
presence  of  the  advocates  of  a  free  Christianity,  as  rivals  to  stimu- 
late and  liberalize  the  state  religion,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  wonder 
that  the  Brazilians  should  have  sunk  in  the  scale  of  moral  being.  The 
rising  generations,  coming  more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  the 
native  heatlienism,  could  not  attain  as  high  a  standard  of  intelligence 
and  morals  as  those  which  had  preceded  them.  It  was  to  be  expected, 
therefore,  that  the  costly  church  edifices,  erected  by  the  pious  zeal 
and  profuse  liberality  of  the  early  Portuguese  emigrants,  should  often 
be  perverted  from  the  use  to  which  they  were  originally  consecrated ; 
and,  as  is  asserted  in  Kidder's  Brazil,  that  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel should  not  be  known  among  the  weekly  services  of  the  church  ; 
and,  also,  as  is  declared  by  Southey,  that  its  practices  should  be 
those  of  polytheism  and  idolatry. 

Details  of  the  social  and  moral  condition  of  the  Brazilians  is 
uncalled  for  on  such  an  occasion  as  this.  But,  as  connected  with  our 
investigations,  we  must  be  permitted  to  say,  that  such  were  the  evil 


40  Relations  of  American  Slavery 

tendencies  of  the  religious  system  of  Brazil,  that,  in  1843,  the  min- 
ister of  justice  and  ecclesiastical  affairs,  addressed  the  Imperial 
Legislature  as  follows  : 

"The  state  of  retrogression  into  which  our  clergy  are  falling  is 
notorious.  The  necessity  of  adopting  measures  to  remedy  such  an 
evil  is  also  evident.  On  the  9th  of  September,  1842,  the  government 
addressed  inquiries  on  this  subject  to  the  bishops  and  capitular  vicars. 
Although  complete  answers  have  not  been  received  from  all  of  them, 
yet  the  following  particulars  are  certified  : 

"  The  lack  of  priests  who  will  dedicate  themselves  to  the  cure  of 
souls,  or  who  even  offer  themselves  as  candidates,  is  surprising.  In 
the  province  of  Para,  there  are  parishes  which,  for  twelve  years  and 
upward,  have  had  no  pastor.  The  district  of  the  river  Negro,  con- 
taining some  fourteen  setdements,  has  but  one  priest;  while  that  of 
the  river  Solimoens  is  in  similar  circumstances.  In  the  three  comar- 
cas  of  Belem,  and  the  Upper  and  the  Lower  Amazon,  there  are  thirty- 
six  vacant  parishes.  In  Maranham,  twenty-five  churches  have,  at 
different  times,  been  advertised  as  open  for  applications,  without 
securing  the  offer  of  a  single  candidate. 

"  Tlie  bishop  of  St.  Paulo  affirms  the  same  thing  respecting  vacant 
churches  in  his  diocese,  and  it  is  no  uncommon  experience  elsewhere. 
In  the  diocese  of  Cuyaba,  not  a  single  church  is  provided  with  a 
settled  curate,  and  those  priests  who  officiate  as  stated  supplies, 
treat  the  bishop's  efforts  to  instruct  and  improve  them  with  great 
indifference. 

"  In  the  bishopric  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  most  of  the  churches  are  sup- 
plied with  pastors,  but  a  great  number  of  them  only  temporarily. 
This  diocese  embraces  four  provinces,  but  during  nine  years  past  not 
more  than  five  or  six  priests  have  been  ordained  per  year. 

"  It  may  be  observed,  that  the  numerical  ratio  of  those  priests  who 
die,  or  become  incompetent  through  age  and  infirmity,  is  two  to  one 
of  those  who  receive  ordination.  Even  among  those  wlio  are  ordained, 
few  devote  themselves  to  pastoral  work.  They  either  turn  their 
attention  to  secular  pursuits,  as  a  means  of  securing  greater  conven- 
iences, emoluments,  and  respect,  or  they  look  out  for  chaplaincies,  and 
other  situations,  which  offer  equal  or  superior  inducements,  without 
subjecting  them  to  the  literary  tests,  the  trouble  and  the  expense 
necessary  to  secure  an  ecclesiastical  benefice. 

"  This  is  not  the  place  to  investigate  the  causes  of  such  a  state  of 
things,  but  certain  it  is,  that  no  persons  of  standing  devote  their  sons 
to  the  priesthood.  Most  of  those  who  seek  the  sacred  office  are  indi- 
gent persons,  who,  by  their  poverty,  are  often  prevented  from  pursu- 
ing the  requisite  studies.  Without  doubt,  a  principal  reason  why  so 
few  devote  themselves  to  ecclesiastical  pursuits,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
small  income  allowed  them.  Moreover,  the  perquisites  established 
as  the  remuneration  of  certain  clerical  services,  have  resumed  the 
voluntary  character  which  they  had  in  primitive  times,  and  the  priest 
who  attempts  to  coerce  his  parishioners  into  payment  of  them,  almost 
always  renders  himself  odious,  and  gets  little  or  nothing  for  his 
trouble," 


To  Jifrican  Civilization.  41 

After  such  a  picture  of  the  inefficiency  of  the  established  reh'gion 
of  Brazil,  and  such  evidences  of  its  decay  and  want  of  sufficient  vital 
energy  to  preserve  it  from  extinction,  it  will  excite  no  surprise  to  find 
the  government,  in  1836,  proposing  to  employ  Moravian  missionaries 
to  catechise  the  Indians  of  the  interior. 

An  American  in  Brazil,  writing  to  the  Boston  Advocate  from  Rio, 
Sept.,  1849,  says  :  "  Every  one,  on  his  first  landing  at  Rio,  will  be 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  all  classes  indiscriminately  mingle  to- 
gether;  all  appearing  on  terms  of  the  utmost  equality.  If  there  be 
any  distinction,  it  is  perceptible  only  between  freedom  and  slavery. 
There  are  many  blacks  here  quite  wealthy  and  respectable,  who  amal- 
gamate with  the  white  families,  and  are  received  on  a  fooling  of  per- 
fect equality.  The  mechanical  arts  are  at  least  half  a  century  behind 
those  of  our  own.  The  churches,  some  fifty  in  number,  are  falling 
to  decay,  which  gives  to  the  city  a  look  of  dilapidation  ;  few  are  still 
observant  of  its  ceremonies ;  but  liitle  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  the 
Sabbath.  The  stores  do  business,  and  the  workshops  are  open  the 
same  as  on  other  days.  A  few  may  be  seen  going  to  worship  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  a  greater  number  resort  to  billiard  tables  in  the  afternoon, 
and  to  theaters  at  night.  The  slave  population  is  estimated  at  three 
times  the  number  of  that  of  the  whites.  Thry  are  alloiced  to  go 
almost  naked,  the  upper  part  of  the  body  of  both  male  and  female 
entirely  so^ 

Amid  this  general  dearth  of  religious  interest  among  the  Brazilians, 
it  will  of  course  be  expected  that  the  moral  training  of  the  poor  slave 
has  been  totally  neglected,  and  that  he  yet  remains  in  all  the  darkness 
and  degradation  of  African  heathenism.  Treated  «s  a  beast  of  burden, 
he  can  know  but  little  more  of  his  moral  responsibility  to  God  than 
the  mule  he  drives.* 

We  find  no  evidence,  thus  far,  that  will  warrant  our  adopting  any 
other  agency  than  Christianity  as  a  primary  means  of  moral  im- 
provement for  the  African  slave,  or  in  the  civihzntion  of  any  barbar- 
ous people.  Nor  do  we  find  any  agency  elsewhere  than  in  the 
United  States,  upon  which  reliance  can  be  placed  for  extending  a 
Christian  civilization  to  Africa. 

"But,"  says  one,  "you  have  passed  by  an  element  of  human  pro- 
gress, more  certain  in  its  operation  than  any  you  have  named.  Give 
the  slave  but  liberty,  and  he  will  vindicate  his  humanity,  and  rise  to 
an  equality  with  his  imperious  oppressor.  This  language  once  seemed 
oracul  »r,  but  time,  whicli  tests  opinions  and  theories,  has  fully  shown 
that  there  is  no  magic  power  in  liberty  and  equality,  any  more  than 
in  tra  !e  and  commerce,  to  originate  civilization  and  produce  a  moral 
revolution  among  a  savage  or  semi-barbarous  people. 

In  proof  of  this  proposition,  it  is  only  necessary,  to  our  present 

*  The  population  of  Brazil,  at  present,  is  as  follows  : 

Slaves 3,000,000 

Indians  and  Free  Negroes y, 500,000 

Whites. 1,500,000 

A  large  majority  of  tlie  army,  as  well  officers  as  privates,  aro  of  African 
descent. 


42  Relations  of  American  Slavery 

purpose,  to  refer  to  Hayti,  where,  after  enjoying  liberty  and  equality 
for  nearly  half  a  century,  the  people  have  with  apparent  willingness 
submitted  to  despotism,  and  bid  fair,  if  regener'^ting  agencies  from 
abroad  are  not  introduced,  to  relapse  into  barbarism.  Hayti,  like 
Brazil  and  Cuba,  having  only  a  fettered  Chrisiiam'y,  derived  from 
France,  made  no  provision  for  the  instruction  of  the  slaves.  School 
houses  for  the  people,  those  earliest  off-shoots  of  a  free  Chrislianity, 
had  not  been  provided  by  the  French  proprietors  for  their  slaves. 
Hence,  when  the  shackles  of  slavery  were  removed  from  the  slaves 
of  Hayti,  by  the  act  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  of  France,  Intelli- 
gence not  prevailing,  the  Industry  of  the  Island,  formerly  comjiidso- 
ry,  was  soon  abandoned.  Before  emancipation,  says  Blackwood's 
Magazine.  1848,  the  exports  from  Hayti,  of  sugar  alone,  reached  six 
hundred  and  seventy-two  millions  of  pounds,  and  the  consumption  of 
French  manufactures,  in  the  ii-land,  reached  $49,450,000 ;  but  at 
present,  she  neither  exports  a  single  pound  of  sugar,  nor  imports  a 
single  article  of  manuficlures. 

In  this  result  we  have  a  startling  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the 
proposition  stated  in  our  former  lecture,  when  discussing  the  results 
of  West  India  emancipation,  that  intelligence  must  precede  volun- 
tary industry. 

Nor  has  the  Christian  world  neglected  to  offer  to  Hayti  a  free 
Christianity,  that  she  too  might  be  blest  by  its  transforming  power. 
The  offer  was  made  and  rejected,  and  this  day  she  is  reaping  the 
bitter  consequences.  In  1835,  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Society  made  an  attempt  to  establish  a  mission  in  Hayti,  which  at 
first  promised  success,  but  was  abandoned  in  1837.  When  Mr. 
Phillippo  visited  that  Island  in  1842,  about  a  dozen  members,  fruits 
of  this  mission,  yet  remained. 

As  early  as  1816  the  English  Wesleyans  commenced  a  mission  in 
Hayti,  but  in  1819  the  missionary  had  to  leave  on  account  of  perse- 
cution from  the  adlierents  of  the  prevailing  religion.  The  converts, 
left  behind,  faithful  to  the  truth,  endured  a  series  of  persecutions,  bitter 
and  relentless,  only  stopping  short  of  actual  martyrdom.  In  1830, 
they  numbered  only  ninety  members,  under  the  care  of  a  native 
preacher  ordained  in  England. 

'J'he  missionaries  found  ignorance  and  iminoralily  predominant  at 
this  period,  and,  in  one  or  more  instances,  had  evidence  sufficient 
afforded  to  prove  that  idolatry  was  practised  in  Hayti. 

Between  1820  and  1829,  a  brisk  emigration  from  the  United 
States  to  Hayti,  was  conducted,  transferring,  according  to  Benjamin 
Lundy,  eight  thousand  free  colored  persons  to  that  Island,  the  ex- 
penses of  six  thousand  of  whom  being  paid  by  the  Haytien  govern- 
ment. But  this  infusion  of  Republican  leaven,  though  equaling  in 
number  ihe  whole  of  the  emigrants  sent  to  Liberia,  seems  not  lo 
have  wrought  any  wonders  in  the  civilization  of  their  brother 
Republicans.     All  have  quiedy  sunk  down  together  into  despotism. 

The  present  social  and  moral  condition  of  Hayti  may  be  inferred 
from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Graves,  one  of 
the  editors  of  the  Cliristian  Reflector,  who  recently  visited  the  Island. 


To  African  Civilization.  43 

"  The  Sabbath  is  the  great  business  day  of  tlie  week  to  the  middle 
and  lower  classes,  while  the  rich  employ  it  as  a  holiday.  It  is  the 
day  especially  devoted  to  military  parade  and  marketing.  Tlie 
public  squares  are  crowded  with  buyers  and  sellers,  and  all  the 
shops  thronged  with  customers  as  on  no  other  day  of  the  week. 
Tlie  marriage  relation  is,  for  the  most  part,  sustained  without  a 
marriage  contract,  and  divorce  and  polygamy  are  too  common  to 
excite  attention.  The  faithful  husband  of  a  wife  is  a  character  so 
rare  as  to  be  a  marked  exception  to  the  general  rule.  *  *  *  * 
In  a  word,  the  institutions  of  the  Salibath  and  of  marriage,  are  alike 
prostrate.  Both  have  a  name;  but  the  divine  object  of  neither  is 
secured,  with  a  vast  majority  of  the  population.  As  a  legitimate 
consequence,  profaneness,  intemperance,  and  vulgarity  extensively 
characterize  all  classes  of  society." 

The  revolution  in  Hayti,  whicli  expelled  Boyer  from  the  Island, 
led  to  a  correspondence  having  in  view  the  introduction  of  mission- 
aries from  the  United  States.  One  of  the  letters  from  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Jeremie,  1843,  says,  "You  have  exactly  hit  on  tlie  essen- 
tial points  in  recommending  the  establishment  of  individual  families 
by  marriages,  to  serve  as  a  basis  of  the  great  social  family,  the 
establishment  of  institutions  for  the  diffusion  of  moral  and  religious 
instruction,"  &;c. 

The  inference  to  be  drawn  from  this  letter  is,  that  in  1843,  as  in 
1849,  the  marriage  relation  was  not  established  and  respected  in 
Hayti. 

Here,  then,  in  Hayti,  we  have  the  proof  that  liberty  and  equality, 
enjoyed  socially  and  politically,  to  its  fullest  extent,  are  also  power- 
less in  the  promotion  of  civilization.  Even  its  newly  made  emperor, 
we  are  told,  still  practises  some  heathenish  rites  allied  to  the  devil- 
ivorship  of  Africa.  We  shall  not  go  to  despotic  Hayti  for  agents  to 
help  to  build  up  Republican  Liberia. 

But  shall  we  go  to  Mexico  for  aid  in  the  civilization  of  Africa?  A 
part  of  the  population,  torn  by  the  slave  trade  from  Africa,  was  taken 
to  Mexico.  As  our  plan  contemplates  the  tracing  of  the  various 
lines  of  dispersion,  so  as  to  inquire  into  the  results,  a  glance  at 
Mexico  will  be  appropriate,  especially  as  we  have  in  that  govern- 
ment still  a  different  phase  of  the  movement  exhibited  to  us  for  our 
instruction. 

The  character  of  the  earlier  Spanish  adventurers  and  colonists  in 
Mexico,  and  the  means  by  which  they  subdued  and  enslaved  the 
natives,  is  too  familiar  to  all  to  need  a  notice  at  present.  From  a 
statement  in  Jay's  Review  of  the  Mexican  War,  we  learn  that  the 
population  of  Mexico  stands  as  follows: 

Indians,     .  .     4,000,000 

Whites,     .  .      1,000,000 

Negroes,   .  .  6,000 

Mixed  breeds,    .     2,009,509=7,015,509. 

Judge  Jay,  it  must  he  remembered,  is  a  waim  abolitionist,  and  of 
course  not  disposed  to  asperse  the  character  of  the  descendants 
of  Africa  anywhere.     By  this  statement  it  will  be  perceived,  that 


44  Relations  of  American  Slavery 

one  important  object  has  been  gained  in  Mexico,  and  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  many,  constitutes  the  sole  barrier  to  the  colored  man's 
elevation  in  the  United  States.  We  refer  {o  prejudice  agcdnat  color. 
In  Mexico  it  seems  to  have  had  no  existence,  but  that,  on  the  con- 
trary, amalgamalion,  on  an  extended  scale,  has  been  practised, 
producing  a  population  of  mixed  breeds,  amounting  to  more  than 
two  millions  of  souls,  out  of  seven  millions,  and  reducing  the  pure 
negro  stock,  imported  from  Africa,  to  the  meager  number  of  six 
thousand.  But  this  was  not  the  only  point  gained  for  the  African  in 
Mexico.  In  due  time,  liberty  and  equcdity  were  also  bestowed. 
Mexico,  in  1813,  threw  off  the  yoke  of  Spain,  and  declared  herself  a 
Republic.  But  the  attempt  of  Iturbide,  to  restore  a  despotism,  raising 
up  a  race  of  military  chieftains  for  his  overthrow,  al'terward  pro- 
duced a  struggle  for  power,  resulting,  in  1824,  in  the  prohibition  of 
the  slave  trade,  and  the  adoption  of  a  constitution  declaring  free  all 
born  after  that  date.  Pedraza  being  elected  President,  Santa  Anna 
at  the  head  of  the  military,  interposed,  and  placed  in  the  presidential 
chair  the  defeated  candidate,  Guerrero,  wiio,  to  strengthen  himself,  and 
the  better  to  resist  an  invasion  from  Spain,  then  in  process  of  execu- 
tion, issued  a  decree,  September,  1829,  emancipating  all  the  slaves. 
Thus  was  liberty  and  equality  at  once  secured  to  the  slaves  of  Mexico. 

But  Mexico,  under  Spain,  had  a  fettered  Christianity,  trans- 
planted to  her  soil,  which  is  still  retained,  and  she  has  carefully 
excludeil  from  her  limits  a  free  Christianity,  with  its  schoolhouses 
and  Bibles  for  the  people.  The  third  article  of  her  constitution 
of  1824,  declares,  that,  "The  religion  of  the  Mexican  nation  is,  and 
will  be  perpetually,  the  Roman  Catholic  Apostolic.  The  nation  will 
protect  it  by  wise  and  just  laws,  and  prohibit  the  exercise  of  any 
other  whatever."  It  is  true,  that  when  Bustamente,  who  deposed 
Guerrero,  was  overturned  in  1833,  by  Santa  Anna,  this  general 
attempted  to  pursue  a  liberal  course  of  policy,  and  abolished  ecclesi- 
astical tithes,  monastic  vows,  and  the  authority  of  the  Pope;  and 
took  the  education  of  youth  out  of  the  hands  of  the  priests,  appointing 
the  professors  in  the  five  free  colleges  which  he  established,  without 
regard  to  country  or  religious  fiiilh.  But  this  effort  to  liberalize  the 
religion  of  Mexico  proved  an  abortion,  the  President,  after  putting 
down  several  revolts,  being  forced  to  readopt  the  old  system  as  the 
established  faith  of  Mexico. 

Now  let  us  see  what  has  been  gained  for  the  Africans  who  were 
taken  to  Mexico.  First,  the  abolition  oi  prejudice  and  the  adoption 
of  amalgamation ;  and  second,  emancipation  with  liberty  and 
equality,  including  the  right  of  suffrage.  Here,  then,  in  the  opinion 
of  many,  is  a  vast  gain  for  the  African,  above  what  he  has  had  granted  to 
him  el.-ewhere  ;  because,  though,  in  Ilayti,  he  had  liberty  and  equality, 
yet  all  leing  African  together,  there  was  not  the  honor  conferred 
whicb  was  secured  in  Mexico,  by  malung  him  the  equal  to  the  de- 
scendants of  the  proud  Castilians  who  had  conquered  Montezuma. 
Now  for  the  results  of  these  favoring  circumstances.  But,  happily  for 
us,  Judiie  Jay  lias  drawn  the  picture  of  Mexico,  for  1846,  to  the  life. 

"  The    Republic   of   Mexico  had  long  been  the  prey  of  military 


To  African  Civilization.  4Sf 

chieftains,  who,  in  their  struggles  for  power,  and  the  perpetual 
revolutions  they  had  excited,  had  exhausted  the  resources  of  the 
(M)untry.  Without  money,  without  credit,  without  a  single  frigate, 
without  commerce,  without  union,  and  with  a  feeble  population  of 
seven  or  eight  millions,  composed  chiefly  of  Indians  and  mixed 
breeds,  scattered  over  immense  regions,  and  for  the  most  part  sunk 
in  ignorance,  and  sloth,  Mexico  was  certainly  not  a  very  formidable 
enemy  to  the  United  Stales."  In  addition,  the  Judge  states,  that  the 
exports  from  Mexico,  in  1842,  were,  exclusive  of  gold  and  silver, 
$1,500,000,  or  a  little  over  forty-nine  and  a  half  cents  per  head  to 
her  population,  excluding  the  Indians.  To  those  who  are  curious 
in  seeiving  for  contrasts,  it  may  be  interesting  to  them  to  know,  that 
the  export  commerce  of  Liberia  is  about  $100  per  head  for  each 
emigrant  residing  in  the  Republic. 

Here,  now,  are  the  results  of  the  movements  in  Mexico.  She 
adopted  a  Republican  form  of  government,  denounced  the  foreign 
slave  trade,  and  emancipated  her  slaves,  placing  the  whole  population 
in  a  condition  of  social  and  political  equality.  But  in  thus  obeying  the 
dictates  of  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  North  American 
confederacy,  which  declares  the  natural  equalii'y  of  mankind,  she 
overlooked  the  other  still  more  important  one,  i/iat  only  men  of  in- 
telligence, and  moral  integrity  are  capable  of  self-government.  This 
fatal  error,  the  source  of  all  her  misfortunes,  was  the  result  of  another 
oversight  which  Mexico  committed  in  the  outset  of  her  career.  In 
casting  off  the  shackles  of  political  deppotism,  she  retained  the 
fettered  fonn  of  Christianity  which  had  been  adopted  to  give  security 
to  crowned  heads,  and  which  is  so  antagonisUc  to  the  spirit  of  repub- 
lican institutions.  This  system,  where  not  stimidated  by  the  rivalry, 
of  a  free  Christianity,  makes  no  provision  for  general  education.  The 
Republican  leaders,  therefore,  who  wished  to  advance  the  general  intel- 
igence  of  the  people,  could  not  accomplish  the  task,  nor  take  the  educa- 
tional interests  out  of  the  hands  of  those  who  had  previously  possessed 
their  control.  The  ignorance  of  the  masses  being  thus  perpetuated, 
the  severing  of  the  ties  binding  the  slave  to  the  master  left  the  freed 
man,  in  consequence  of  his  ignorance,  a  constant  prey  to  the 
intrigues  of  military  chieftains.  The  ri^ht  of  suffrage  was  thus 
rendered  almost  utterly  valueless  in  Mexico,  because  the  decisions 
of  the  ballot-box  were  repeatedly  set  aside,  and  the  power  of  the 
sword  interposed  to  give  to  the  nation  its  rulers.  How  far  emanci- 
pation in  Mexico  may  have  arrested  tlie  prosperity  of  the  nation, 
and  tended  to  destroy  its  internal  peace,  rendering  property  and  life 
insecure,  by  letting  loose  a  large  number  of  semibarbarous  and 
savage  men  from  the  restraints  of  shivery,  to  be  controlled  at  will  by 
ambitious  chieftains,  we  shall  not  wait  to  inquire.  Our  concern  is 
with  the  effects  produced  upon  the  Africans  by  their  transfer  to 
Mexico.  Their  history  tells  us,  that  liberty  and  equality  in  Mexico, 
have  fallen  far  short  in  the  production  of  the  good  to  the  slave  which  his 
wants  require  ;  not  that  these  privileges  arc  valueless  and  ought  to  he 
withheld,  Lnt  because  that  the  intellectual  and  moral  culture,  which 
impart  intelligence  and  moral  integrity,  xvere  not  included  in  the  gift. 


46  Relations  of  American  Slavery 

We  have  now  completed  the  circuit  of  our  investigations.  The 
facts  revealed  in  rehition  to  the  intensity  of  the  wretchedness  of  the 
African  race,  not  only  in  Africa  ilself,  but  in  many  of  the  countries  to 
which  they  have  been  transported,  are  well  calculated,  at  first  view, 
to  cause  tlie  piiilanthropic  heart  to  shrink  from  making  an  effort  to 
afford  relief,  because  of  the  immensity  of  the  obstacles  to  be  over- 
come, before  their  deliverance  can  be  accomplished.  But,  upon  a 
closer  view  of  tbe  subject,  it  would  seem  that  their  dispersion  to  the 
different  countries  in  which  they  have  been  enslaved,  was  permitted 
by  Divine  Providence,  wiih  the  view  of  teaching  the  world  some 
great  lessons  upon  the  subject  of  the  true  elements  of  human  pro- 
gress, and  lit  the  same  time  to  make  ample  provision  for  tlie  recovery 
of  Africa  from  barbarism.     Let  us  see. 

Without  at  present  recapitulating  the  facts  upon  which  we  base 
our  opinions,  or  stating  the  arguments  by  which  they  may  be  sup- 
ported, the  investigations,  just  completed,  afford  much  material  to 
sustain  the  following  conclusions  : 

I.  That  a  Free  Christianity — revealing  the  individual  responsibility 
of  man  to  God,  producing  a  pure  morality,  generating  independence 
of  thought,  begetting  a  spirit  of  phihinlhropy,  and  teaching  the  natu- 
ral equality  of  mankind — is  the  primary  element  of  civilization 
and  all  useful  human  progress. 

II.  That  the  secondary  but  essential  elements  of  civilization  and  use- 
ful human  progress,  and  which  are  included  in  and  necessarily 
dependent,  for  their  full  development,  upon  the  primary,  are  these: 

1.  Liberty  of  conscience  in  the  worship  of  God 

2.  Both  secular  and  religious  education. 

3.  Personal  freedom. 

4.  Social  and  political  equality. 

5.  The  sacredness  of  the  marriage  relation,  and  the  possession  and 
control,  by  parents,  of  their  offspring. 

G.  The  righi  of  property  in  the  fruits  of  industry. 

7.  Time,  for  the  operation  and  development  of  tliese  elements. 

From  the  possession  of  these  rights  and  privileges,  and  their  con- 
stant exercise,  there  necessarily  is  produced  among  men  :  First,  The 
fear  of  God  and  just  conceptions  of  moral  responsibility.  Second, 
An  enlightenu-.ent  of  conscience,  begetting  moral  integrity  and  a  pure 
morality,  thus  securing  confidence  between  man  and  man,  and  creat- 
ing the  basis  of  the  safety  of  society.  Third,  A  proper  estimate  of 
man's  relations  and  responsibilities  to  his  fellow-man.  Fourth,  Phi- 
lanthropy, or  the  desire  of  the  welfare  of  our  neighbor.  Fifth,  The 
love  of  home  and  of  offspring,  leading  to  untiring  efforts  for  their 
welfare.  Sixth,  Industry,  to  accumulate  property  for  the  individual's 
or  the  family's  use.  Seventh,  Trade  and  commerce,  to  supply  the 
artificial  wants  which  advancing  civilization  creates. 

The  truth  of  these  conclusions  being  admitted,  it  will  follow,  that 
just  so  far  as  the  primary  and  secondary  elements  of  civilization 
and  useful  human  progress  are  possessed,  or  not  possessed,  in  whole 
or  in  part,  by  a  barbarous   or  semi-barbarous   people,  to   the  same 


To  African  Civilization.  47 

extent  and  in  the  same  proportion  may  we  expect  them  to  advance  or 
retrograde.  And  if  we  find  that  the  progress  or  non-progress  of  the 
Africans,  who  foim  the  subject  of  onr  inquiries,  has  been  in  tlie  pro- 
portion in  which  they  have  enjoyed,  or  not  enjoyed,  all,  or  some,  or 
none,  of  ihe  bh^ssings,  rights,  and  privileges  named,  then  we  have 
evidence  to  establish  the  trnth  of  tlie  proposition,  that  the  catalogue 
given,  constitutes  the  elements  of  civilization.  And  further,  it  being 
thus  proved,  that  a  free  Christianity  necessarily  begets  intelligence 
and  moral  integrity,  and  therefore  tends  to  restore  man  to  bis  original 
stale  of  knowledge  and  uprightness ;  and  as  such  a  moral  condition 
necessarily  secures  the  welfare  of  society,  it  follows,  tlwit  our  propo- 
sition, heretofore  stated,  is  true,  viz  :  thut  Christianity,  tincorniptcd, 
is  copaile  of  restoring  to  man  his  lost  happiness.  Now  let  us  see 
how  far  our  conclusions  are  sustained  by  the  facts  brouglit  out  in  our 
investigations. 

In  tlie  United  States,  where  the  primary  element,  a  free  Christian- 
ity, had  its  birth,  the  commencement  of  the  slave's  elevation  is  of 
equal  date  with  his  touching  the  shoie.  But  as  the  secondary  ele- 
ments of  progress  have  been  mosdy  denied  to  the  slave,  and  the  pri- 
mary often  enjoyed  but  imperfecdy,  his  advancement  has  been 
impeded,  and  his  progress  falls  short  of  what  it  would  have  been,  had 
his  privileges  been  more  extended,  so  as  to  include  more  of  the  ele- 
ments of  civilization.  This  view  is  fully  sustained  by  the  fact,  that 
the  greater  advancement  made  by  ihe  free  colored  man  over  the  slave, 
in  the  United  States,  is  about  in  the  proportion  of  the  extent  of  the 
additional  privileges  which  he  has  enjoyed. 

[n  Jamaica,  which,  for  three  hundred  years,  was  emphatically 
without  rdigion,  and  where,  during  that  time,  neither  the  primary 
nor  a  single  one  of  the  secondary  elements  of  civilization  were  in 
the  possession  of  the  slaves,  no  progress  was  made  by  them  until  a 
free  Christianity  was  introduced  and  their  religious  education  com- 
menced. Nor  was  the  progress  rapid  until  the  emancipation  act,  of 
1833,  put  them  in  possession  of  an  increased  number  of  the  elements 
of  civilization.  As  they  still  lack  an  essential  element,  social  and 
political  equality,  and  as  secular  and  religious  educatii  n  is  not  sup- 
plied to  the  extent  of  the  wants  of  the  population,  retarding  causes 
exist  in  Jamaica,  which  will  pievent  that  high  intellectual  and  moral 
development  that  should  be  secured  to  the  African. 

In  ("uba  and  Brazil,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  slaves  possess 
either  the  primary  or  secondary  elements  of  civilization,  and,  conse- 
quently, the  first  step  in  human  progress  remains  to  be  taken.  Un- 
like Jamaica,  which  was  without  religion,  Cuba  and  Brazil  had  a 
fettered  Christianity,  but  sunk  so  low  as  to  have  lost  what  little  vital- 
ity it  once  possessed,  and  consequently,  in  these  countries  no  one 
has  cared  for  the  soul  of  the  slave,  hut  he  is  still  left  to  toil  on  in 
mental  and  moral  night,  and  in  anguish  and  in  woe,  until  a  premature 
death  kindly  wrests  him  from  the  oppressor's  grasp. 

In  llayti,  one  fact  presents  itself,  of  peculiar  importance  in  proof 
of  our  proposition,  that  a  free  Christianity  is  the  primary  element  of 
civilization.     The  primary  element  alone  existed  among  the  slaves 


48-  Relations  of  American  Slavery 

of  the  United  States,  and  all  the  secondary,  except  liberty  of  con- 
science, and  religious  education,  were  wanting;  yet  prosfress  was 
made,  and  an  approximation  to  civilization  attained.  But  in  Hayti,  for 
nearly  half  a  century,  all  the  secondary  elements  of  progress,  except- 
ing liberty  of  conscience  and  secular  and  religious  education,  were  in 
possession  of  the  people,  but  instead  of  progress  under  these  advan- 
tages, there  has  been  retrogression ;  and  no  other  sufficient  reason 
can  be  assigned  for  it,  but  that  the  primary  element,  a  free  Christian- 
ity, wliicli  alone  can  develope  the  moral  powers  of  man  and  impart 
life  and  activity  to  the  secondary  elements,  was  wholly  excluded  from 
the  island.  Ilad  Hayti,  when  she  became  republican,  possessed  the 
primary  element  of  progress,  she  would  have  been  doited  over  with 
schoolhouses  and  churches  ;  secular  and  religious  education  would 
have  prevailed  everywhere  ;  the  sacredness  of  the  marriage  relation 
would  have  been  respected  ;  the  welfare  of  offspring  promoted  ;  vol- 
untary industry  adopted,  and  the  energies  of  its  inhabitants  roused 
into  action.  Under  these  circumstances  despotism  could  not  have 
riientered  the  island. 

The  facts  in  relation  to  the  colored  population  of  Mexico,  are  so 
strictly  the  same  with  those  of  Hayti,  that  wc  need  not  slate  tliem. 
Twenty  years'  possession  of  nearly  all  the  secondary  elements  of 
civilization,  but  in  complete  destitution  of  the  primary,  has  scarcely 
impelled  them  forward  a  step  beyond  their  original  barbarism.  To 
the  white  population  of  Mexico,  the  results  have  been  very  similar  to 
what  has  occurred  in  Brnzil.  In  both  countries,  there  is  danger,  it 
would  seem,  from  the  natural  tendencies  of  fallen  human  nature  to 
barbarism,  that  the  civilization  transplanted  from  Europe,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  t!ie  primary  element  of  progress,  may  greatly  retrograde,  in 
consequence  of  the  overpowering  influence  of  heathenism,  by  which 
it  is  surrounded.  This  remark  will  equally  apply  to  neaily  all  the 
South  American  governments,  which,  on  throwing  off  the  European 
yoke  of  political  despotism,  and  giving  freedom  to  the  slave,  made  no 
provision  for  public  education,  either  secular  or  religious. 

But  this  examination  of  the  different  results  that  have  grown  out 
of  the  various  degrees,  in  which  the  African  has  been  brought  under 
the  influence  of  the  elements  of  civilization,  in  the  countries  where 
he  has  been  enslaved,  may  now  be  closed.  Facts  enough  are  given, 
certainly,  to  tea(;h  us  important  lessons  in  relation  to  the  elements  of 
useful  human  progress — facts  enough  to  show  that  Christianity  is  the 
primary  element  of  civilization;  not  Christianity,  as  fettered  and 
made  an  engine  of  despotic  sway  over  mankind,  holding  them  in 
ignorance  of  their  rights  and  obligations;  but  a  free  Christianity, 
based  upon  the  Bible,  demanding  for  men,  equal  rights  and  liberty  of 
conscience,  and  leaching  them  that  respect  for  the  rights  of  others, 
and  that  moral  integrity  which  gives  security  to  governments,  based 
upon  law — facts  enough,  too,  to  prove,  that  unless  all  the  elements  of 
progress,  primary  and  secondary,  be  enjoyed  unrestrained,  and  in 
full  exercise,  by  a  people,  there  will  exist  impediments  to  their 
advancement — facts  enough,  further,  to  prove  that  it  is  dangerous  to 


To  African    Civilization.  '*W 

withhold  from  men,  the  elements  of  moral  progress,  when  conferring 
upon  them  those  of  social  and  political  advancement — and  facts 
enough,  furthermore,  to  prove,  that  for  a  civilized  community,  or  state, 
or  nation,  to  admit  a  barbarous  or  semi-barbarous  people  into  its 
bosom,  or  to  retain  them  when  forced  upon  it,  without  supplying  to 
them  the  elements  of  intellectual  and  moral  elevation,  is  to  cherish 
an  agent  antagonistic  to  civilization,  and  which  must  react  unfavorably 
upon  itself,  in  retarding,  if  not  preventing,  its  further  prosperity. 

Our  investigations  also  show,  that  the  African  race  is  not  in  posses- 
sion of  all  the  elements  of  civilization  in  any  of  the  countries  to  which 
they  have  been  transported.  A  further  investigation  would  show  that 
there  is  no  prospect,  at  present,  of  their  ever  attaining  them  in  these 
countries.  But  as  their  possession  and  free  exercise,  is  essential  to 
the  production  of  the  highest  mental  and  moral  developments  of 
which  the  race  is  susceptible,  the  establishment  of  the  Republic  of 
Liberia,  becomes  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance,  and  most  pro- 
found interest  to  the  colored  race. 

In  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  and  in  Liberia  only,  can  the  colored 
man  obtain  possession  and  the  free  exercise  of  all  the  elements  of 
civilization,  and  useful  human  progress.  In  the  Republic  of  the 
United  States,  and  in  the  United  States  only,  can  the  white  man 
obtain  possession  and  the  free  exercise  of  all  the  elements  of  civili- 
zation, and  useful  human  progress.  Here  are  two  facts,  not  to  be 
controverted.  There  exists  at  present,  no  European  government, 
whose  population  possesses  all  these  elements  of  progress.  France 
has  put  herself  in  possession  of  the  secondary,  but  is  destitute  of  the 
primary.  England  may  be  said,  in  a  good  degree,  to  possess  the 
primary,  but  withholds  a  part  of  the  secondary  from  a  large  portion 
of  her  people.  We  repeat  the  assertion,  therefore,  that  the  Republic 
of  the  United  Slates,  is  the  only  nation  under  the  sun,  where  the 
ivhiie  man  can  enjoy  all  the  elements  of  useful  human  progress,  and 
that  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  is  the  only  point,  on  the  whole  earth, 
where  the  colored  man  can  enjoy  them.  And,  further,  we  assert, 
that  the  United  States  is  the  only  country,  Avhere  the  colored  man  has 
had  the  opportunity  of  enjoying  any  part  of  these  blesfiings,  and  of 
tvitnesnng  the  workings  of  the  whole,  and  of  comjnehcnding  their 
nature,  and  learning  their  value. 

And  now  we  aie  prepared  also  to  assert,  that  the  United  States, 
only,  of  all  the  governments  of  the  earth,  possesses  the  necessary 
agents,  in  the  persons  of  intelligent  and  industrious  colored  men, 
to  recover  Africa  from  barbarism,  and  to  bestoiv  upon  that  be- 
nighted la)id,  as  we  are  noiv  doing  in  Liberia,  all  the  elements  ne- 
cessary to  the  production  of  the  highest  degree  of  civilization,  and 
of  thus  securing  to  her,  the  greatest  amount  of  prosperity,  and  of 
happiness. 

Here,  then,  are  the  results  of  bringing  together,  on  the  soil  of  the 
United  States,  the  highest  developments  of  Christian  intelligence  and 
integrity,  and  the  lowest  form  of  pagan  ignorance  and  depravity. 
Here  are  the  results  of  the  experiment  which,  seemingly,  was  to  test 


50  delations  of  .American  Slavery 

the  capability  of  a  free  Christianity  to  transform  the  grossest  material 
of  humanity  into  the  most  refined — proving  the  unity  and  natural 
equality  of  the  human  race.  Here  is  ample  testimony,  to  prove  the 
sufficiency  of  a  pure  Christianity,  to  restore  to  man  his  lost  happi- 
ness. And  here,  now,  is  unfolded  to  view,  the  solution  of  the  great 
question  involved  in  all  our  investigations,  fAe  relation  which  the  sla- 
very of  the  United  States  bears  to  the  recovery  of  Jifrica  from 
barbarism. 

The  people  of  Liberia  are  themselves  a  standing  wonder  to  the 
world.  The  greater  part  of  them  were  slaves,  until  the  hour  they 
left  our  shores,  and  of  all  men  in  the  world,  would  have  been  pro- 
nounced, and  were  pronounced,  the  least  able  to  accomplish  the  work 
they  were  sent  to  perform.  But  the  elements  of  progress  were  borne 
along  M'ith  them.  The  missionaries  of  a  free  Christianity  offered 
themselves  as  a  willing  sacrifice,  from  year  to  year,  to  plant  the  ele- 
ments of  civilization  in  Africa,  that  there,  amid  moral  darkness  and 
degradation,  the  evidence  might  be  furnished,  that  the  religion  of 
their  Lord  and  Master  was  divine;  and  able,  not  only,  to  secure 
eternal  life  to  the  soul  of  the  believer,  but  to  redeem  the  world  from 
oppression  and  woe. 

Europe  stands  astonished  at  the  mighty  progress  of  the  United 
States,  in  all  that  is  ennobling  and  great.  Its  people  imitate  our  ex- 
ample, and  aim  at  our  results,  widiout  understanding  the  secret  of  our 
success,  and  therefore  fail.  They  seem  to  be  wholly  incapable  of 
compreliending  the  nature  of  our  free  institutions.  Liberty,  under 
the  restraints  of  law,  is  an  enigma  they  cannot  solve.  Thus  far,  we 
have  stood  alone,  as  a  monument  of  the  power  of  Republican  Insti- 
tutions, to  advance  the  welfare  of  man.  And,  indeed,  such  seemed 
to  be  our  unique  position,  that  we  were  ready  to  boast  that  only  the 
Anglo-Saxon  could  be  safely  free.  But  now  Liberia,  as  if  to  rebuke 
us  for  our  pride,  stands  forward,  and  begins  to  loom  up  as  another 
monument  of  the  power  of  free  institutions.  He  that  was  once  a 
poor  slave,  and  cowered  beneath  the  voice  of  the  white  man,  now 
stands  erect  in  Liberia,  like  his  own  native  palm  tree,  nor  bows  in 
meek  submission  but  to  the  voice  of  the  Eternal. 

The  citizens  of  Liberia  are  beginning  to  realize  the  relations  and 
responsibilities  of  their  new  position,  and  call  loudly  for  help  to  exe- 
cute the  high  destiny  to  which  they  are  called.  Said  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Paine,  of  Liberia,  when  on  a  visit  to  New  York,  with  President 
Roberts,  1848:  "Nearly  every  one  of  the  officers,  from  the  least 
even  to  the  greatest,  are  communicants  in  some  evangelical  church, 
and  adorn  their  life  by  a  holy  walk  and  conversation.  You  do  not 
find  them  on  the  Sabbath  day,  strolling  about  the  streets,  and  seeking 
for  pleasure,  as  I  have  seen  your  people  in  thi.s  country,  but  they  are 
found  in  the  school  and  sanctuary.  As  an  evidence  of  their  being  a 
strictly  moral  and  religious  people,  he  would  state,  that  out  of  eleven 
members  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  six  in  the  Senate, 
seventeen  in  all,  only  one  was  not  a  professor  of  religion.  Intelli- 
gent Liberians,"  continued  Mr.  Paine,  "are  impressed  with  the  con- 
viction, that  the  Supreme  Disposer  of  events,  has  called  them  to  a 


To    ^^frican    Civilization.  51 

high  mission;  thai  they  have  transferred  Plymouth  to  Africa,  and 
that  civilization,  repul)licanism,  anil  Christianity,  are  to  proceed  from 
them  over  a  vast  continent  that  lies  in  liie  shadow  of  death.  They 
are  nerving  themselves  to  the  fnlfillmeiit  of  such  a  destiny.  'IMiey 
have  grasped  the  great  idea,  and  have  incorporated  it  with  the  foun- 
dations of  the  Republic." 


APPENDIX. 

10°"  Attention  is  directed  to  the  following  mevement: 

OHIO   IN  AFRICA. 

At  a  meeting  of  colored  ciiizens  of  Cincinnati,  held  on  the  14th 
inst.,  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  offered  and  adopted  : 

Whereas,  Believing,  that  with  all  the  exertions  on  our  part,  and 
the  assistance  of  those  friendly  to  our  elevation,  we  must  despair  of 
ever  seeing  the  prejudice  manifested  against  our  people  done  away  in 
the  United  States,  for  centuries  yet  to  come,  from  two  ostensible 
reasons  : 

First,  As  no  colored  persons  ever  voluntarily  emigrated  to  this 
country,  but  were  brought  here  in  chains,  consequently,  we  that  are 
here,  are  either  slaves  or  their  descendants;  and  being  thus  situated, 
the  vain  pride  of  the  while  race  will  never  admit  the  social  equality 
of  a  people  who  are  their  bondsmen,  or  whose  fathers  have  been 
their  slaves. 

Second,  We  believe  all  nations,  or  men,  are  respected  according  to 
their  ability  to  control,  by  numbers,  or  intelligence ;  we,  possessing 
neilljer,  can  never  expect  to  enjoy  apolitical  equality  where  we  must 
fail  to  command  and  enforce  respect. 

Under  these  considerations,  having  feelings  and  aspirations  such  as 
other  men,  we  feel  it  to  be  a  duty  which  we  owe  to  posterity,  to  seek 
a  home  where  we  may  be  free  and  our  chihlren  reared  under  the 
blessings  of  liberty.  Other  nations  have  colonized  and  prospered, 
and  why  not  we?  When  blessed  with  the  same  advantages,  we  are 
equal  to  any  and  inferior  to  none.     Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  believe  that  Liberia  offers  to  the  oppressed 
children  of  Africa  a  home  where  they  may  be  free  :  and  that  it  is  the 
only  place  where  we  can  establish  a  nationality,  and  be  acknowledged 
as  men  by  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Resolved,  That  the  present  meeting  enter  into  the  organization  of 
an  Association  for  the  purpose  of  emigrating  to  the  territory  now 
being  purchased  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  by  Charlks  McMicken, 
Esq.,  of  this  city,  for  the  colored  people  of  Ohio. 

Resolv'd,  That  we  believe  it  expedient,  before  emigrating  to  LiliC- 
ria,  to  send  out  efficient  agents  to  examine  the  country,  and  brino 
back  some  satisfactory  report  to  our  people. 

Resolved,  Tiiat  this  preamble  and  resolutions  be  published  in 
several  of  the  papers  of  this  city. 

ELIAS  P.  WALKER,  Chairman. 

Wm.  Byrd,  Secretary. 


52  Cannibalism. 

The  following  important  letter,  from  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Pinney,  for- 
merly Governor  of  Liberia,  was  not  received  in  time  for  insertion  in 
the  proper  place  : 

David  Christy,  Esq. 

Bear  Brother — Your  interestingletter  of  the  16th  ult.,  lingered,  and 
then  my  absence  for  a  few  days,  to  attend  a  meeting  at  Annapolis, 
delayed  a  reply  until  it  is  probably  too  late  to  do  you  a  service.  In 
Mr.  Tracy's  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Missions  in  Africa,"  there  is  a  note 
with  some  interesting  facts  relative  to  cannibalism. 

1  never  saw  men  eating  human  flesh,  but  have  heard  of  its  being 
done  in  the  vicinity  of  Liberia. 

The  letters  of  Sion  Harris  and  Rev.  G.  Brown,  who  were  attacked 
at  the  mission  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  at  Heddington,  in  1840,  by 
Gotorah,  the  famous  Condo  warrior,  (he  had  threatened  to  eat  the 
missionary),  slate  that  the  dried  limbs  of  men  slain  previously  were 
thrown  away  in  their  flight. 

This  same  warrior  visited  Gov.  Buchanan,  in  1839,  to  treat  for  a 
peace,  and  while  there  gave,  in  public  council,  as  an  objection  to 
making  peace,  that  he  would  have  nobody  to  eat. 

In  1835,  while  I  was  agent  of  the  Colonization  Society,  I  sent  two 
Methodist  ministers,  who  were  men  of  high  standing,  each  having 
before  been  elected  to  the  ofiice  of  Vice  Governor  of  the  Colony,  as 
commissioners  to  negotiate  a  peace  between  the  Veys  and  Condoes. 
While  they  were  at  Bo-poro,  the  chief  town  of  the  Condo  nation, 
they  stated  that  human  flesh  was  offered  in  the  market  for  food. 

In  1833,  I  made  a  tour  sixty  or  seventy  miles,  to  a  king  north-easi 
of  the  Bassa  Cove  Colony.  My  purpose  was  to  proceed  several 
hundred  miles,  but  the  king  resolutely  refused  leave,  and  no  bribe  or 
importunity  prevailed  to  change  his  decision.  The  reason  assigned 
was,  that  as  I  came  with  letters  from  the  Governor,  the  King  was 
responsible  for  my  safety,  and  the  neighboring  tribe,  Pessa  men, 
would  kill  and  eat  me. 

The  missionaries  from  England  to  Coomassie,  capital  of  Ashantee, 
stated  in  their  published  journal,  in  1841,  that  they  saw  men  return- 
ing from  the  market  with  human  limbs  for  food. 

Of  the  Gallinas,  I  know  nothing  from  actual  observation.  I  im- 
agine that  Cape  Mount  would  furnish  you  as  good  a  point  for  a 
setdement.  By  occupying  Gallinas,  you  would  more  surely  exter- 
minate the  greatest  slave  mart  in  western  Africa. 

Very  respectfully,  yours, 

J.  B.  PINNEY. 

JVew  York,  March  2,  1850, 


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